


League of Yorkshin

by schmetterlingstee



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: AU, Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Hunter X Hunter Big Bang, HxH Big Bang, M/M, Romance, Superheroes, hinted Killugon, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 16:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7060246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schmetterlingstee/pseuds/schmetterlingstee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coming from a family of famous heroes, it is Killua’s turn to sign up for the Hero Academy, where he meets Gon, who also aspires to become a first league hero. They become friends and promise to achieve their dreams together.<br/>After months of training, both of them rise to the second league where they meet Leorio and Kurapika, two more experienced heroes. During their first big mission, Gon finally meets Killua’s oldest brother together with his associate and friend, a hero whose power has both the properties of rubber and gum.<br/>While Killua and Gon live their lives as aspiring heroes, Illumi and Hisoka have to face their own challenges. None of them know that their friend Chrollo is secretly the leader of a gang of thieves, nor does he know he is fighting his friends…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> written for the HxH Big Bang on tumblr. 
> 
> I've had this story in my head for such a long time now and finally found something that motivated me enough to write it down.  
> As someone who loves AUs, this one was a little different for me to write compared to my other stories since I wanted to write something a little more action-packed.
> 
> A big shoutout to my wonderful betas AmaraSessh and konafreckle on tumblr! Thank you so much for your hard work ♥
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy this fic as much as I did writing it!

_“In a world where Nen and the Hunter Association do not exist, people with superhuman powers as genetic mutation come into being and have been born since centuries.  Although being considered a threat to humanity, they have proven themselves and now serve as protectors of the citizens and society, they serve humanity as heroes.” …_

Killua closed the video on his phone since the bus had stopped. Finally he had arrived at the Hero Academy, the place where his life and future career would begin.

His grandfather had always preached to him that everyone born with superhuman powers should serve the public to help and protect them.

His father and mother had often told him about their adventures back when they had been first league heroes.

And now he saw his brother on TV almost daily together with the other heroes of the first league, stopping crimes and fending off terrorists or other criminals.

All his life he had dreamed of this very moment, the moment he would become a hero himself.

He could feel his heartbeat increase as he walked up the front steps and enters the registry hall.

The walls were framed with former graduates that had all made a name for themselves in the past. It was incredibly exciting to think about having a picture of himself here one day.

But today signing up was enough of a big step. He could barely look over the counter of the registry. The lady behind it let out a soft chuckle and reached forward to hand him the registry papers.

“Please fill them in and wait in the room over there. Your powers will be examined later.”

Killua was a bit disappointed by the delay. But there was a TV in the waiting room broadcasting HeroTV, which was the live show that was on air 24/7 broadcasting the exploits of the first league heroes. Currently there had been a bomb attack on the central station of Yorkshin and the heroes were busy arresting the terrorists.

He had been watching the screen so attentively he had not noticed that another person entered the room.

“Pretty cool, aren’t they?”

Killua swung around and looked at the boy who had to be just about his age. He had big brown sparkling eyes and black hair that must have taken an insane amount of gel to style.

Killua rubbed his neck – he had not expected someone else to sign up at the same time he did, but the boy in front of him… yes, he seemed nice. At least he smiled at him brightly. He was probably just as excited as Killua was himself.

“Uh…yeah, they’re pretty cool.” He finally replied.

“Ah, I should have introduced myself first. I’m Gon, nice to meet you!” Gon said and reached out his hand.

Killua took his hand and shook it with a smile on his face. “I’m Killua. I take it you’re signing up to become a hero as well?”

“I am. I’ve dreamed of this day ever since I was a little kid.” Gon answered and grinned brightly.

“So did I…” Killua said, slightly surprised that Gon was just as eager and excited to become a hero as he was. This would be fun.

Gon sat down next to Killua and both watched the screen for a while without saying anything.

One of the higher ranked heroes swung along the skyscrapers, with an elastic sticky kind of power attached to the buildings and himself, only to jump right onto one of the fleeing bombers, bringing him down.

Most of the heroes faces were covered by a mask, but this hero’s confident smirk was impossible to overlook. With a tight grip on the criminal, he turned around into the camera's view and the announcer began to report excitedly:

“Crimson Curse has arrested another terrorist! This season, no one else has been successful in arresting their criminals during their mission within such short time.”

The hero, Crimson Curse, gave the camera a bright smirk. “I take my job very seriously, nothing is more important than the safety of our citizens. You thugs out there better think twice before you commit a crime, unless you want to be bound by my bungee gum – which possesses the properties of both rubber and gum.” He declared with a chuckle.

Gon laughed awkwardly. “That guy gives me the chills… If I didn’t know he was a hero, I would be scared of him.”

Killua laughed. “I feel the same way. But my brother always says he’s not as weird in real life.” He paused and wished he had kept his mouth shut, but it seemed to be too late.

Gon’s eyes widened with surprise. “Your brother knows Crimson Curse? I thought all heroes would keep their identities a secret and only reveal them to their colleagues-“ He gasped.  “Does that mean your brother is a first league hero?”

Killua cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. “Well, yeah… I guess.”

“Is he on TV right now as well? Which one is he? You have to show me!” Gon almost pleaded, but Killua remembered his brother’s words to never reveal their relationship to anyone. It wouldn’t be good if people knew he was the brother of a hero who was despised by all kind of gangsters and criminals.

“I really can’t tell you that… But you can take a guess, if you want.”

Gon made a pout, but turned his attention to the TV screen again. “Then I’ll guess.”

While Crimson Curse handed over the arrested criminal to the authorities, the other terrorists were still on the run, pursued by the two other heroes while the rest helped to rescue the people out of the remains of the central station.

One of the heroes chasing the criminals resembled the shape of a young girl with blonde hair. She seemed to prepare for an attack when the camera focused on her.

“There she is, the hero everyone has been waiting for! Our beloved princess of justice – Biscuit!”

Biscuit jumped off a building only to land right next to her target, which she knocked out with a quick jump followed by a punch.

“Biscuit has successfully stopped another one of the criminals, isn’t she just great?!”

Biscuit smiled into the camera and winked. “You could say I’m one tough cookie.” She giggled and struck a cute pose, sticking out her tongue.

Gon rubbed his chin as if he was seriously thinking. “None of them seem to be related to you in any way so far. If your brother knows Crimson, it can’t be him… and Biscuit is a girl.”

The rest of the criminals were about to escape and seemed to be out of reach of another hero that could stop them. But suddenly the ground froze and the legs of the escapees were caught in ice.

Out of the dark, a tall man with a white, rather tight suit, appeared. His long ice-blue hair resembled shimmering floes floating in the Arctic Ocean.

“This ends now; you’ve hurt enough people for today.” He announced with a voice that sounded almost too gentle to be his own. Before his next sentence, his lips twitched into a grin but he quickly hid it and continued, “You might want to… chill.” He reached out his hand with an elegant gesture and even more ice appeared out of nowhere, freezing the men completely.

Killua snorted and quickly tried to cover his mouth to hide his grin. _“He has to stop with those awful puns.”_

With that, the mission was complete and the announcer began to report again.

“Amazing, once again, Frostbite has caught the most villains and terminated the threat – and that with such grace! If only I wasn’t a married woman-” she sighed and Killua rolled his eyes.

As if they all had been waiting for that moment, reporters began to interview the heroes.

“How does it feel to get the most points the seventh time in a row? Do you plan to make it under the top 5 this season? ” A woman excitedly asked the last hero.

Frostbite, the man with the long shimmering, silky hair smiled slightly and replied, “Points and ranks don’t matter to me. It is my duty to serve and protect.”

The woman, who is supposed to be a professional journalist – supposed, since she did not really act professionally - blushed and gasped. “My, a true hero at heart! Is there anything you would like to say to your fans and our viewers?”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to say hello to my younger brother. He will sign up for the Hero Academy today and I haven’t gotten the chance to speak to him in person yet.”

The woman placed a hand over her forehead, completely stunned by Frostbite’s presence alone it seemed. “Of course!”

“Little brother, if you’re watching this right now, I just want to say that I’m proud of you. Do your best and we might be able to work together one day!”

Suddenly, it seemed to hit Gon. He turned around to Killua with big sparkling eyes. “Your brother… is Frostbite? He’s one of the coolest heroes! I’m a really big fan of him!”

Killua nodded slowly. “Yup… though it is sometimes really annoying to see a bunch of people losing their mind over your own brother. In private he isn’t that flashy... or that spectacular.”

“He isn’t? Well I figured that acting is also part of the job of a hero... But I’ve been meaning to ask, is that his natural hair? Your hair is really bright as well, so it would make sense – but it doesn’t look as if it is his real hair.”

Killua laughed. The way Gon excitedly spoke of his brother seemed funny to him. Especially since his brother had never been this much of an interesting person to him.

“It’s more or less natural. When he activates his powers his eyes glow blue-ish and his hair loses its color. But it turns back to normal afterwards.”

“I knew about the glowing eyes, that’s what gives away every ability user after all. But I never knew that some changed their hair color as well.”

“It’s not like he can control it… I don’t know what’s up with that, honestly.” Killua made a pause and looked at his shoes for a while. Then he turned his gaze to the blooming trees outside the waiting room’s window.

“My father and my mother used to be heroes as well, so did my grandfather… I want to become a hero to take after them, to become an even better hero than they were! Not that they were bad at their job, but I’ll work even harder to make it to the top.” He said after a while.

“That’s impressive. But if you want to become the Number 1, then we might become rivals one day.”

Killua looked back up at Gon, who appeared much more serious all of a sudden.

He continued, “I want to make it to the top as well – to meet my father. He used to be first place, the King of Heroes…but he hasn’t been active lately… I want to make it to the first league to finally meet him – or at least find out where I can find him.” Gon said and looked back at Killua. All the heroes in the first league know each other in person right? I just have to make it there and then I’ll find him…” He clenched his fists.

Killua didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t even imagine how it must have been for Gon to never know his father, to have never met him in person. It must have been hard growing up without someone who meant so much to him, even if he had never met him.

Killua’s own parents had never kept their past careers as heroes a secret. In fact, they had raised all of their children to become potential heroes one day. All of his siblings had been born with abilities, just like himself – and since becoming an ability user who works as a hero was more fortunate than becoming a criminal, like many others did, his parents had decided to raise their children to embrace the abilities they had been given.

It must have been quite different for Gon. He didn’t seem to be able to control his ability just yet, at least Killua could feel that by the aura the other was emitting. His father would have called it a waste of energy, but not everyone could be as lucky to grow up with the training Killua had gone through.

But Killua wanted to help Gon, somehow…

“Gon. Let’s work hard together until we’ve made it into first league!” he declared and rose to his feet.

Gon looked up to him, his stern expression turning into a smile almost too fast. He got up from the chair as well. “Alright! We’ll become the best and strongest heroes Yorkshin has ever seen!”

Killua laughed slightly. “Then it’s a deal.”

They both grinned at each other when suddenly the woman from the registry opens the door and peeked into the room.

“Are you two prepared? Everything is ready for the examination of your powers.”

“I’ll go first!” Gon declared, while a devilish grin appeared on Killua’s lips.

“Not if I get there before you!”

Both boys sprinted past the Lady of registration to hurry to the examination room. But they both had to stop when they realized they had no idea where they were supposed to go. They turned around to stare at the lady again, both slightly embarrassed.

“The examination room is the other way boys.” She said with a gentle smile. “Be so kind and please follow me. We don’t want you to get lost on your first day.”

And with that they were led to the examination room. Their career as heroes had officially begun.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Yorkshin, two heroes finally took off their masks and called it a day.

“Hey, Frosty. Have you seen my shower towel?”

Illumi spun around, with his suit still on, and gave the other hero a stern look.

“Hisoka, stop calling me that. And I have no idea where you left your towel.”

Hisoka shrugged. “Then I’ll just borrow yours. You didn’t seem to break a sweat today, you won’t need it anyway.” He said while stepping into the shower.

Illumi shook his head. It was a mystery to him how Hisoka could shower at the Hunter Media headquarter after each mission – especially at those times Biscuit couldn’t turn her eyes away from him. But she had went home earlier, apparently because she had a date. Not like Illumi really cared about that.

It would have driven him mad to be gazed at while not fully clothed, but Hisoka had always loved that kind of attention.

Illumi gritted his teeth as he almost ripped his suit while undressing – that thing was too tight. But each time he had addressed this very issue, his manager suddenly had something else to discuss and in the end nothing ever changed. He would probably wear this damn suit until one day he would suffocate in it.

He quickly put on the rest of his regular clothes again, while Hisoka was occupied with something else, and tied up his hair. As he wiped off his makeup, he heard Hisoka from the shower “What was that about your brother on TV today?”

Illumi sighed. If he could pay attention to Hisoka every time he told him something, Hisoka could do the same.

“I told you three times already. My brother signed up for the Hero Academy today. But because of all the commotion, I didn’t get the chance to wish him good luck earlier.”

“Huh I see… Family stuff. Then you must be proud that he wants to become a hero as well.”

Illumi thought for a moment. “I am. But I doubt he’s doing just because of me. He has a lot of potential already.”

Hisoka stepped out of the shower and used his friend’s towel to dry his body - Illumi would probably never see it again.

From the mirror standing on his dressing table, Illumi saw Hisoka checking himself out in the mirror next to the shower stalls and breathing in sharply.

“My, that one really hurt.” He murmured and observed the wound on his shoulder.

“Where did that come from?” Illumi asked.

“One of those men must have struck me with a bullet earlier. I didn’t even feel it until I stepped into the shower.”

Illumi walked over to Hisoka to take a better look at the wound. It didn’t look too bad, but it also did not look enjoyable. He gently placed his hand on the other man’s shoulder and leaned forward to observe it more closely.

Hisoka raised an eyebrow, curious to what exactly Illumi was doing. It was rare for him to leave his personal space or get this close other people at all - and it was even rarer for him to touch Hisoka’s bare skin.

He was almost disappointed when Illumi looked away and walked back over to the dressing table to put his suit away until the next mission.

“You should use an antiseptic just to be safe. We really need new suits that are more robust and solid, suits that can take a few bullets. I’ll talk to our sponsors about that later.” He said as he stored away his hero attire. Part of him already knew that if their sponsors would agree to get new suits, his manager would do everything to spend as little money for them as possible.

Hisoka had gotten dressed by now as well, and was about to blow dry his hair.

“What are you up to later tonight?” he asked. Technically he could find himself someone to spend the night with, but a night out with Illumi was fun as well.

Illumi shrugged. “I don’t know…not much, really. My parents are going out tonight and I have to babysit my siblings, then I’ll have to call my brother…and after that I’ll probably go to sleep.”

Hisoka grimaced and looked back at his reflection in the mirror. “That sounds sad - almost depressing… Is that how a hero spends his evenings?”

Illumi had used the moment Hisoka was distracted to get back his towel, but carrying around a wet towel seemed gross, so he decided to throw it back at Hisoka instead.

“Better than spending it drinking and with different people each time. I hope you use protection.”

Hisoka caught the towel before it hit his face and laughed slightly. “Is that jealousy, or are you worried about me?”

“I’m worried that you might lose sense of reality one day.” Illumi replied. “I’m off, you can keep the towel. I’ll see you tomorrow at the café.” He opened the door to the hallway.

“The café?”

“Yes… the café where we were going to meet with Chrollo.”

Illumi could not believe Hisoka sometimes. He never forgot their meetings with their sponsors, but he forgot simple things such as meeting with friends that had nothing to do with the whole hero business.

Hisoka nodded. “Sure. - I didn’t forget it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I would never think of such a thing. Goodbye.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was dark outside already, but the sidewalks were still swarming with people everywhere. A city like Yorkshin never seemed to sleep. Illumi was truly glad his parents did not live in the inner city, but in one of the suburbs.

He walked towards the central station when suddenly he remembered that there would be no trains running due to the attack from earlier.

“Great. Now I have to take the bus…”

As he shuffled towards the bus station, he came across a shop with a group of girls in front of them, chatting loudly.

“Have you seen Frostbite on TV today? He is so hot - I want him to use those ice powers on me.”

“He is really good looking. But I prefer Crimson; he has such a wicked personality and such a beautiful body.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Frostbite is the most beautiful hero in the entire first league.”

“I wonder if he has a girlfriend…”

Illumi was grateful that he could not hear them anymore; he hated to hear other people talk about him -  his hero identity to be more specific, with such little respect.

Once he was behind that mask he had no problem to act as the kind of hero his sponsors wanted him to be. Cool, reserved and yet he was supposed to throw in embarrassing lines to, as his sponsor had called it, “capture the hearts of our viewers.”

By now he felt less like a hero, someone who protected people from evil, but more like a product. Back when his parents had been heroes they probably never had to deal with things like this. But he didn’t feel like quitting just because of a small problem like that.

When he got home, he was greeted by his younger sister Alluka.

“Yay, big bro is home! We saw you on TV today! You were amazing! ” she began to chatter lively, while the youngest member of the family came into the hallway to greet Illumi as well.

Kalluto was shy, even around his family, but he smiled slightly when Illumi waved at him while trying to break free from Alluka’s hug.

“The way you stopped those criminals today… that was really impressive.” Kalluto said quietly.

Illumi smiled and ruffled through his youngest brother’s hair gently.  “Thank you. I tried my best to make an appearance that would stand out… at least somehow.”

“It was really good.” Kalluto replied and slipped through the door to the living room again.

Illumi turned his attention to Alluka, who still had her arms wrapped around him and looked up to him with her big blue eyes and a pleased smile.

“Where are mother and father?” he asked.

“They left already. Mommy even wore her fancy dress and her pretty lipstick!”

“I see. What about Milluki?”

“He is upstairs, in his room. Did you expect something else?” Alluka asked innocently, but if it had not been coming from her, it would have been a really rude thing to say.

“Not really.” Illumi said, after trying to make out the clicking sounds on the keyboard upstairs – Milluki had to stop slamming his fingers onto the buttons that violently. One day the keyboard would break.

“Big bro, come on! I want to call Killua already!” Alluka said and almost dragged Illumi into the living room, where Kalluto was sitting on the sofa already, waiting patiently.

“My, Alluka…you even set up the computer already.”

“Of course! I’ve been waiting to hear from Killua all day…”

Illumi found it adorable how much Alluka loved Killua – he wasn’t jealous that the two got along better than any other of the five siblings. Besides, he wasn’t home often and barely spent time with his younger siblings after he had moved out.

But he felt sorry for Kalluto sometimes. He wasn’t the most social child, and since Killua and Alluka spent their time together often, and with Milluki never leaving his room, he was probably quite lonely.  
Maybe that would change, now that Killua was busy with becoming a hero.

But right now, Kalluto seemed just as excited to hear from Killua. He sat on the sofa and dangled his legs excitedly – he wasn’t tall enough for them to reach the floor yet – but kept a straight face.

“Can we… can we call Killua now?” he asked.

“Yes, we’re all set!” Alluka nodded - apparently she had taken over the leadership - and set up the connection for the holographic call.

 

* * *

 

Killua thought it was weird that he and Gon ended up sharing a room, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be as boring as having a room just for himself.

“Killua, someone is calling you!” Gon almost ran up to Killua’s bed and handed him his phone.

He sat up and smiled when he saw who called him. Gon left the room – he had mentioned something about calling his aunt earlier.

Killua let his finger wipe over the screen to answer the call, and before hologram had built itself up completely and he got the chance to say hello, he was cut off by Alluka.

“Killua! Hey Killua, it’s Alluka! Kalluto and Illumi too – How are you? Did you get accepted?” she asked, blinking excitedly while leaning too close to the camera, since her entire face covered the space of the hologram.

“Alluka, you’re too close.” Killua heard his oldest brother in the background and after Alluka had moved back with a pout, he finally saw Kalluto and Illumi as well.

“Hey! Of course I was accepted, otherwise I would be home already.” Killua replied with a grin. His sister was too adorable and he already missed her terribly.

“Killu, that's great news.” Illumi said and Kalluto just nodded a bit awkwardly, but he seemed to be proud as well.

“Mom and Dad will be proud.”

Again, before Killua got the chance to reply to Illumi, Alluka leaned forward again and sighed.

“But when will you come home again, Killua? I miss you already… Do you have to stay there all the time? You will come home for vacation, right?”

Killua laughed slightly and replied, “I will have to focus on training and school for a long time. But I will visit as often as I can, I promise.”

Alluka made a pout, but Illumi patted her head gently. “Alluka, Killua has to train hard to become a hero. We have to support him now, even if you want him to come back home… we can visit him during the weekends.”

Alluka nodded. “If can at least see Killua on the weekends, I’ll be able to live with that. I’m happy you got accepted big bro! Please work hard and become the best hero of Yorkshin!” she smiled at Killua brightly.

“I’ll try.” He laughed slightly. “I would have to catch up with Illumi first before I get to that point.”

“Don’t say that, you can’t compare our abilities.” Illumi said, twisting a lock of his hair. “But you have a lot of potential, I’m sure you will make it into second league in no time.”

He took a look at the clock on the wall. “But I think that’s enough for today. You should go to bed soon. These two here definitely need to get into their pajamas now.”

“Okay.” Kalluto nodded, well-behaved as always, while Alluka shook her head. “No, I don’t want to sleep yet! I want to talk with Killua some more.”

Killua had not noticed how weary he had gotten, but now he felt his eyelids becoming heavier every minute and it was hard for him to focus.

“Alluka…” he yawned. “You can call me tomorrow again.”

His sister sighed, but she saw reason after a small yawn escaped her own mouth.

They said their goodbyes and Killua turned off his phone.

He had been honest when he said he would miss his family. Not everyone – he certainly would not miss Milluki yelling at him. And Illumi never really was home now that he’s busy with his job.

But he already missed the time he used to spend with Alluka.

Before he could wallow in self-pity, Gon entered the room again. He gave him a smile when he sat down on the bed next to his own.

Gon looked around the room before he began to speak.

“I still can’t believe we’re here… I always dreamed of becoming a hero, but I never imagined myself actually signing up for the academy. But now I’m here.” He said.

Killua placed his hand in front of his mouth to hide a yawn. “I know what you mean. I grew up with my parents training me to become a hero, but I didn’t think I’d end up here so soon. It’ll be hard work…” he replied.

Gon clenched his fists and looks out the window. “I know… but I want to meet my father one day.” He turned back to Killua with a smile. “But if we work together, I’m sure we’ll make it to the top!”

Killua’s cheeks turned red. “Sheesh, what are you saying?” he almost stuttered and Gon laughed.

They had only met today, but Killua felt as if he could trust Gon… rely on him. He seemed childish and quite thoughtless – but at the same time, Killua knew that he was much more than what he seemed.

Both of them had their own goals, but to achieve them they had to walk the same path. If they trained hard together, they might really make it to the first league.

“I mean it!” Gon said and reached out his hand. “Let’s become first league heroes together, pinky promise.”

Killua rubbed the back of his neck, but finally reached out his hand with a smile. “Fine… Promise.”

After they had gone to bed, none of them said anything anymore, but it was no uncomfortable silence. They were both tired and there was more than enough time to get to know each other tomorrow.

None of them knew that in exactly four months a lot of things would change within the world of heroes.

 


	2. Second League

Four months had passed when Killua and Gon were called into the headmaster’s office.

Both of them had improved their abilities a lot over the last months. In terms of strength, Gon was already ahead of Killua. To be honest, Killua had never met anyone who was able to turn a 10 meter thick wall into sand with a single punch. It had also been quite disappointing that Gon seemed to be ahead of him, although Killua had already been trained by his father and grandfather years before he had signed up for Hero Academy.

But as it seemed, Killua took exactly after his father in terms of technique. He still remembered how proud he had felt when one of the trainers had immediately recognized that he was the child of Silva Zoldyck.

“The white hair, blue piercing eyes and that remarkable skill – your father was exactly the same at your age.” The mentor, who was an old man, had told him after Killua had demonstrated his Thunder Palm for the first time.

Gon had been impressed at the view of Killua’s electrical aura and Killua had proudly demonstrated some other moves he had been practicing.

Back then they had been still at a very early stage of their training. But in the past months, they had not only been training their fighting skills and abilities – to become a first league hero they had been coached to make appearances and give interviews as well.

It still seemed weird for Killua that people, who were meant to keep up public security, were treated and had to act as celebrities as well.

Some companies that provide contracts for heroes only want a pretty face to promote their business; while others wanted a strong and invincible fighter that gave the audience a show… no one seemed to care about actually protecting people. But maybe that was just his perception.

Gon stepped into the headmaster’s office first but waited for Killua to enter before he took a seat.

The headmaster was not as old as Killua had expected him to be, but from what he had heard, the headmaster’s ability is that his body could reproduce as many cells as were dying in his body. By preventing cell death he could technically be an immortal. But just because he could not die a natural death, it didn’t mean he would live forever.

The job of a hero provides many hazards that could mean death – but as the headmaster, he probably didn’t have to fear those.

“Killua, Gon. I’ve seen you progress over the past four months. Both of you have more potential than other students your age. Others would consider it too early for you to step into business… but I feel both of you are ready to join the second league. A company has already shown great interest in you and given me contracts for both of you. What do you say?”

Killua’s eyes widened with surprise. Both of them were only fourteen… The youngest heroes that had been offered a contract were no less than 16 years – and even then they were considered a prodigy. When his brother had been offered a contract it had been three months before his 17th birthday.

But both Killua and Gon had just turned 14 this year. He wasn’t sure whether to be proud, or to be worried.

Gon seemed to make that decision for him. His eyes widened with joy and he jumped up from his seat. “Are you serious? You’re not joking, are you? - Uh, I mean, you are not joking, sir?”

The headmaster formed a mild smile with his lips. “I am completely serious, Gon. Now, do you wish to sign the contract?”

Killua could tell Gon was about to say yes, but he remembered his brother’s advice not to sign every contract given to him. He wanted to know who he would be working for and after talking about exactly this topic with his brother; he knew exactly which companies he would never want to work for.

“What company offered us the contract?” he asked.

“None other than BeitacleMedia.”

Killua gasped. He had not expected such a high class and well-paying company to be interested in them before their first debut on HeroTV. In the past BeitacleMedia have had only heroes within the top ten rankings under contract and that raised his suspicion.

“But… why? They could just as well offer one of the first league heroes a new contract.”

The headmaster leaned back. “From what I’ve heard they want new, fresh faces. New heroes the people haven’t heard of. They’re planning to introduce the two of you as partners.”

Gon raised an eyebrow. “I never heard of any heroes that were partners… so one of us will become a sidekick?”

“No, both of you will be equal partners based on the information I have given. BeitacleMedia and another company are planning to work together in the future, so there will be another hero duo that will be introduced on TV before you make your appearance - which will be after you have gained a little experience in the second league of course. I can’t take responsibility for unleashing you on an unsuspecting world without having worked as real heroes before.”

“When will we start working in second league?” Gon asked and sat back down, his feet swinging excitedly.

“Once you feel like it. But first you need to think of an alias for yourselves and choose a fitting suit for your first missions. Later you will wear what the company provides for you.”

Gon grinned brightly. “That is so cool.” He whispered and Killua laughed slightly.

He wished he could be as enthusiastic about this as Gon, but becoming a second league hero meant a lot of responsibility and it would not be as easy as their training sessions in the simulation.

After saying their goodbyes to the headmaster, Gon almost dragged Killua to the designer’s wing to pick a fitting outfit.

Killua sighed, while Gon dug around in a huge box that was filled with what the designer had referred to as “minimalistic transitory hero suits”.

“Gon, don’t you think picking an alias is more important than the outfit? Once we know what to call ourselves, we can at least choose the suit based on it.”

But Gon didn’t seem to be bothered by Killua’s comment. He kept digging around in the box until he had found something that caught his interest.

“Oh, I already decided what I want to use as an alias.”

Killua’s eyes widened. “Wait what?”

How could Gon have picked a name already and not tell him? Wasn’t that what friends did? Telling their friends about important things like that? He almost felt offended.

“Yeah, I thought of it on our way here.”

Killua huffed, but leaned back crossing his arms. “Then what did you come up with?”

Gon put on a dark green mask and turned around energetically.

“My name… will be Hit-Kid!”

“…”

Was Gon being serious? Killua grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “Gon… I don’t want to offend you, but that name… needs some work.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Doesn’t it sound cool?”

“…Not exactly.”

Gon frowned and crossed his arms, but after a while his expression softened and he sighed.

“Maybe you’re right… then help me find a better one.”

Killua nodded. “Sure. I need to find one myself. We could check the hero database for help. Maybe check out the names of heroes that have already retired and use them for inspiration.”

“That sounds great!”

Some time later and a few floors upstairs, Killua turned on one of the computers. Checking the hero database as inspiration for an alias seemed like a good idea, but an even better thing to do was to prevent choosing a name that already existed.

“Hm… all of these old-timey heroes sound a bit lame…” Killua mumbled while browsing through the list, when suddenly Gon jumped up.

“I know! Emerald Crusher! I like green and my ability Hundred Power is offense-based.”

Killua thought for a moment, but then he nodded. “That doesn’t even sound too bad. I should try to think of a name like that too. A name that fits abilities…”

“Lightning manipulation is element-based, right?” Gon asked.

“Yeah. It runs in the family. Everyone except my mother is an element-based ability user.” It was almost weird that none of his siblings were born with mental-based abilities like his mother.

Both of them thought for a while, when Gon snapped his fingers.

“Killua, I have found the perfect alias for you.”

“And that would be…?”

“Okay…” Gon made a pause before he said “What do think of ‘Thunderstruck’?”

“Thunderstruck? That sounds as if I was struck by lightning.” Killua muttered, not fully convinced yet.

“No, you don’t understand. Let me explain… your brother doesn’t call himself Frostbite because he has frostbites, but the people he fights might get some. And Thunderstruck is what your opponents will be, that’s what I meant.”

“Hm… if you say it like that, it doesn’t sound bad.”

“But it is only an idea of course, maybe you thought of something better yourself.” Gon replied, rubbing the back of his neck while sticking out his tongue.

Killua hummed. “Well… the only thing I came up with was Electrokid, but it sounds ridiculous.” He laughed awkwardly. “Plus it won’t fit anymore once I’m older. I think I’ll go with your suggestion.”

Yes… that alias was something he could get used to…

 

* * *

 

Killua was incredibly excited when he and Gon walked up to the headquarter of the second league. Their temporary hero suits were not exactly what he had imagined – to be fair he felt rather awkward wearing his. They looked incredibly tacky.

But it was comforting that their outfits were only temporary. When he had picked his suit and the mask, he constantly heard his brother’s voice in the back of his head. _“No capes.”_

It had been hard to convince Gon that capes were not cool but actually dangerous and could technically kill him. But in the end, he had listened to Killua and had put the cape aside.

The headquarter of the second league was not as big as the one of the first league, which was a giant skyscraper in the inner city. In fact, it looked like a normal company building in a small town. Many small windows on three levels, maybe there was a basement too…but it was hard to say.

Gon rubbed the back of his head. “Killua, are you sure this is it? It’s…”

“Small? Easily overlooked? Unspectacular?”

“Well…yeah.”

Killua checked the address on his phone again. There’s no doubt that this was the building they had been looking for.

“I’m afraid this is it…maybe it’s bigger on the inside.” He said as they walked in.

It wasn’t bigger on the inside. It seemed even smaller than before. There was no reception as they had expected. Killua was not even sure whether someone besides them was there. The building was gloomily silent.

Before they could take their leave unnoticeably, Gon felt a shadow appear behind him and he swung around while Killua jumped back, ready to activate his lightning aura.

Much to their surprise the person in front of them was a man – or rather a boy, since he was not much older than they were – in a dark blue and golden hero suit with blond hair and grey eyes sparkling behind a mask.

He seemed out of breath and bowed before them hastily. “Please don’t leave yet! I apologize for being late!”

The tension running through Killua’s body eased up and he waved it off.  “It’s fine… I guess. Are you going to show us around?”

The blond straightened up again and passed his hair out of his face. “Yes. I am supposed to serve as your mentor during your time in second league. I have been informed the two of you will only stay for a short time before becoming first league heroes, yes?”

Gon nodded whereupon the man smiled slightly.

“I see. You’re both still very young. But if you already received a contract, that must mean you are quite talented.” He said, but as he took a look at the clock on the wall his smile disappeared.

“And he’s also late again.” He muttered.

At almost exactly the same moment, a much taller man rushed into the hallway the three were standing in. “I made it-“ he yelled, but stopped to take a breath.

“You didn’t. You’re late.” The blond said in a monotone voice, much different than how he had spoken to Killua and Gon earlier.

The taller man let out a gasp and let himself fall onto a chair. “Oh come on Kurapika, you ran into the building two minutes before I did.”

The blonde grimaced and hissed, “Because I just came back from a mission! If I remember correctly, you were relaxing at your home! And don’t call me by my real name in front of our new apprentices, Leorio!”

Leorio, the taller man, rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just overreacting. And if you want me to call you by your alias, then do the same for me. Seriously, why don’t we just introduce ourselves to them with our real names? We’ll be working together - should we not at least trust them that much?”

Kurapika eased up and let out a sigh. “Fine. It would only be fair. When we were assigned to take care of you for your first weeks, we were told about your real names already.”

Killua frowned slightly. “Is that even legal?”

Leorio shoved his mask, which seemed to serve as glasses at the same time, back into place and replied “Technically…both yes and no. It’s legal since we all work in second league. But it is not entirely legal, since we knew your names before you joined the league. But no need to worry, it’s not like we will run around and tell everyone.”

“I doubt you want the public to find out about your real identities as well.” Killua said. If he had not known the names of the men in front of him and Gon, he would have been more upset. But somehow he felt the two could be trusted. At least for now.

Gon smiled. “Thank you for showing us around, you two!”

Leorio laughed and grinned proudly. “Oh please, no need to thank us. We haven’t even started yet. It’s nothing. Besides, I love to help.”

Kurapika rolled his eyes. “Don’t think of it too highly Gon. We’re getting paid for it.”

“I thought so…” Killua said quietly, while Gon pouted sadly.

“Really? I thought…” he stopped and let out a sigh.

Leorio’s face turned red as he stuttered “U-uh- But we’re not getting paid in money! We just receive bonus points… for a higher ranking in the league.”

Killua crossed his arms. As if that would make it any better.

But it seemed to be enough for Gon. His sad expression turned into a smile again. “Ah I see! I’m looking forward to working together with you guys.” He said and bowed to both of them energetically.

Kurapika had to push back a lock of his hair again, that kept falling into his face, but then replied, “Pleasure to meet you two. If you don’t mind, we’ll directly start with the instructions.”

Killua shrugged and crossed his arms. “Sure, go ahead.” _About damn time._

Kurapika nodded and began with the introduction to the second league.

Killua knew most of the things the blond told them. The second league was not on live TV or part on HeroTV like the first league. The second league also was supposed to fight crimes that were either too dangerous for the cameramen to film or not spectacular enough to be presented on the screen.  
Kurapika noted that this would be due to the fact that the ability users in the first league never had to take on missions during which they had to fear for their lives – To guarantee their survival and safety.

  
Then why did Illumi always complain that exactly this was not the case – in fact some missions of the first league were more deadly than the jobs the second league did.

But Killua did not feel like interrupting Kurapika, who carried on with how exactly the ranking system worked – which he already knew about as well.

After another ten minutes of information which Killua didn’t need, Kurapika finally came to a point, he had never heard about.

“I know you two are really eager to carry out your first real mission, and I understand that. But there are groups of criminals you should never interfere with unless you are a first league hero. Even if the first league is not fighting them while you witness a crime – do not fight these groups.”

“What kind of groups are you talking about?” Gon asked.

Kurapika gritted his teeth and Killua could feel the tension building up inside him.

Leorio cleared his throat and continued in the blonde’s place. “You should stay away from the mafia, and terrorists like the bombers…but most importantly, you should never interfere with the Spiders.”

“These bastards don’t care who’s getting in their way. Try to stop them and they’ll most likely kill you.” Kurapika hissed. “They don’t care about anything but themselves. Not the lives of innocent people, no… they take what they want, even if they have to burn down an entire village.”

“Yes, and that’s all true Kurapika, but we should not bring any personal matters into this.” Leorio said with a calm voice and placed his hand on the blond’s shoulder. “Everyone gets what’s coming to them in the end. Right now there are more important things than planning revenge.”

Kurapika sighed and began to rub his temples before he spoke again. “You’re right. I apologize for my behavior. I acted really unprofessional. But Leorio is right, you are still not experienced enough to take on the Spiders. Leave them be and stay away from them as far as possible.”

His call bracelet blinked and he turned away to answer the call, while Leorio almost solemnly handed both Killua and Gon their own call bracelets – a device every hero uses to contact other colleagues, their sponsors or the producers of HeroTV who like to give orders on how to enter a scene and whatnot. At least that was what Illumi had told him once.

Gon still tried to figure out how exactly to operate it, Kurapika returned to the three of them with a slight smile.

“Are you prepared for your first mission?”

 

* * *

 

Killua intently observed the factory that was situated one block away from their current position. There seemed to be nothing suspicious about it.

“Everything looks calm.” He reported to Kurapika, who crouched down next to him and took the spyglass out of his hands.

“True. But from the information I have been given, this is not the case.” The blond said with a stern expression and rose to his feet again.

Gon pulled Leorio, who obviously had his troubles with climbing onto the rooftop. The taller man let himself fall onto his knees and took a breath. “Please never make me do this again. Running and self-defense is no problem, but never ever make me climb again.” He sighed.

Kurapika looked away as he answered. “Some hero you are. You just need to work out more, that’s all.”

Leorio groaned, still out of breath “I work out every day! What more do you expect of me?”

Before he could complain even more, Kurapika made a gesture for him to be quiet.

“There is some odd movement around the northern entrance.” He said.

Killua took another look through the spyglass and saw what Kurapika meant. Two armed men dressed completely in black now guarded the door to the factory.

“I think it’s time to see what’s going on in there.” Kurapika said.

While they carefully approach the factory, Gon asked the question that had been on Killua’s lips the entire time. “What exactly is happening here?”

“From the report I received, a gang of criminals took factory workers hostage. But now that I got to take a good look myself, I’d say this isn’t just a regular taking of hostages. Do you see the embroidered emblem on those men’s shoulders?”

Gon placed the spyglass in front of his face again and peered into the distance to take a better look at the men who were guarding the door.

“Huh… It looks like a skull in front of a cross.”

Killua rubbed the back of his head. “… Seems really cliché to me.” He muttered whereat Kurapika smiled slightly.

“While that is true, it also means that we’re dealing with a mafia family here…” he browsed through the database that appeared on the screen of his call bracelet. “…But none of name. If it were the Nostrades for example, we weren’t allowed to interfere-“

“- because they have great influence on the economy and politics of the Yorbian continent, I already know that.” Killua said. It was more than obvious that all ten big mafia families were granted immunity against prosecution.

Gon’s eyes grew wider with surprise and he looked up to Killua. “Is that true?”

“Yes.” Killua replied, and Kurapika confirmed with a sigh, “I wish it wasn’t true, Gon… but that is another thing you will have to keep in mind while doing your job.”

Gon frowned dissatisfied and muttered “Then why do I hear this for the first time today?”

“Because they don’t tell you – until you join second league. That’s where you learn how things really work in this business…” Kurapika said with a calm expression, although Killua could tell that he wasn’t exactly pleased with it.

Gon sighed and handed the spyglass back to Kurapika, while Leorio finally rose to his feet again and joined them.

“So what is the plan? Do we just barge in, kick the bad guys out and save the day? Or are we going to do things a bit more subtly?” he asked.

“I would recommend we approach the whole thing a little more careful since this is Gon and Killua’s very first mission. But subtlety isn’t really your thing, is it?” Kurapika replied.

Leorio snorted. “I can be subtle, I’ll show you.”

“You better.” Kurapika said and turned to Killua and Gon again. “Now listen closely, you two. We will proceed as follow…”

 

* * *

 

Killua had a hard time crawling through the ventilation shaft. It was cold, uncomfortable and a bit too tight to his liking. Gon however didn’t seem to have any problem with it.

“I can’t wait to get out of here…” Killua muttered and suddenly bumped into Gon who had stopped.   
“Ugh- Gon! At least give me a warning.”

Gon tried to turn around to face Killua, but it was simply impossible. Therefore he loudly whispered “I’m sorry. But I think I found the boss of the whole thing.” He moved to the side to make room for Killua and pointed at something outside the air vent.

Killua glanced through the slits and found himself looking into a rather dark room. The only source of light was a single glowing bulb, its light shining onto an older gentleman in a business suit and a younger woman – possibly the business guy’s secretary.

In front of them stood a tall woman with broad shoulders and next to her an even taller man, armed with a minigun.

“Woah that doesn’t look good.” Gon whispered at the sight of the weapon, but Killua waved it off.   
  


“Our suits are bulletproof, did you forget that already? Besides, they don’t appear to be ability users. Those two shouldn’t be a threat…”

Before he could continue, another person entered the room. And, in comparison to the other two, noticeably small man with a round face and a cigar between his teeth staggers into the room.

With a bright grin he blew a cloud of smoke into the tied up man’s face.

“Do you know what happens to people that don’t pay up their protection money?” he asked with a squeaky voice, that almost had Killua burst out in laughter, but he knew how to contain himself.

The man that is tied to the chair squinted his eyes and coughed, before he answered “I told your two gorillas already that last month I paid for two months beforehand! Now untie me and leave my factory.”

The cigar man with the squeaky voice laughed, and Killua had to hold his breath to stay unnoticed.

“Huh, is that so? Too bad, I don’t remember. I’ll have to punish you after all.” He swung around to his subordinates.

“Yuma, break his arm.”

Yuma, the tall woman next to the minigun guy, cracked her knuckles and approached the tied up factory owner with heavy steps.

“Killua, we have to do something.” Gon whispered.

“I know… are you ready?” Killua asked. When Gon gave him a nod, Killua took a deep breath to activate his powers.

He felt the energy flowing through his veins and the static crackling in his hair.  “Now!” he yelled and kicks open the air vent.

Both he and Gon dashed through the opening. While Killua let a lightning strike the man with the minigun who was knocked out immediately, Gon throat punched Yuma and knocked her to the ground.

Unlike the minigun guy, she wasn’t taken down as easily. With a dark growl she got back on her feet and sprinted towards Gon with a roar to strike him.

The shockwave of the punch tossed Gon against the wall, in which he left behind an impact crater. But his ability allowed him to block the punch without taking further damage.

Before their opponent could strike another blow, Killua sent a shockwave through her body and she went to the ground without a sound.

Gon looked around the room. Now it was only the two of them, the poor businessman and his visibly horrified secretary… and the mafia guy, who almost choked on his own cigar from shock.

“Take it easy now, kids. I’m sure we can discuss this-“he began, but before he got to finish his sentence a chain wrapped itself around his body and bound him so tight, he couldn’t say another word.

“Kurapika!” Gon’s eyes lit up when Leorio and Kurapika appeared in the now open doorway.

Leorio rubbed his knuckles and sighed. “Now we missed the show… if only we had made it past all these triggermen sooner. I hope it wasn’t too hard for you two.”

Kurapika gave both Killua and Gon a genuine smile. “Looks to me as if this wasn’t much of a problem for our rookies.”

Gon hopped from one foot to the other excitedly. “I never felt such an adrenaline rush; can we go on another mission today? But you should have seen the lighting!-“he swung around to Killua. “You were amazing! We will be the greatest hero team of all time!”

Killua laughed slightly and felt his cheeks turning red. “Don’t say embarrassing things like that… we only managed to take them out so fast, because we worked well together.”

“While that is true – I’m really sorry to disrupt you – Are you not forgetting something?” Leorio asked and walked over to the still tied up factory owner and his secretary.

“Oh, sorry. I got so excited, I forgot you were here as well.” Gon apologized and quickly went over to the chairs to free the two.

The secretary brushed the rubble and dust that came from the shattered wall off her outfit and thanked Gon, while her boss wiped sweat off his forehead and shook Killua’s hand.

“I can’t express how grateful I am that you two appeared.”

Killua rubbed the back off his head. “Even though we broke your office’s wall?”

The man laughed and waved it off. “It’s easier to rebuild than to fix a broken arm… or worse. I would like to know the names of my saviors as well. You two look a bit young to me to be working as heroes already… but you have clearly proven yourself today.”

Gon stretched his arm and grinned with pride shimmering in his eyes. “You may call me… Emerald Crusher! You better remember my name, you will hear it more often in the future.”

Killua hid his face and bit his lips. The whole alias thing still felt embarrassing and awkward to him, although Gon seemed to love it.

Before he could object, Gon pulled away his hands and announced proudly “This right here is my partner Thunderstruck. As you two might have seen, he is pretty amazing.”

The secretary smiled brightly at Killua and thanked him again for saving her and her boss, but Killua just waved it off.

“You’re welcome, it was no big deal.” He said, still blushing slightly.

 

* * *

 

After Kurapika had handed over the criminal to the public security forces, they were now on their way back to the second league’s headquarter.

Leorio, who had remained silent for a while, cleared his throat and began to speak. “I have to admit, you two are more talented than I had imagined… who exactly are you? Ability users of your level aren’t just born in regular families.”

Gon hummed lightly. “Huh…well, my father is a world league ability user. He used to be a first class hero in Yorkshin some time ago, but he’s always been ambitious from what my aunt told me about him. I just hope one day I’ll be able to meet him.”

“Are you saying you never met him in person before?” Leorio asked curiously, whereat Kurapika whispered a little bit too loud “Isn’t that obvious?”

Leorio rolled his eyes. “There is no law against asking.”

Gon laughed slightly. “It’s fine, really.”

Leorio glanced over to Killua who had been listening to their conversation as well, but decided to ignore the question. “And what about you, Mr. Lightning?”

“It’s actually Thunderstruck.” Gon added.

“Yeah, he knows I’m talking to him.” Leorio said. “What’s your big secret? Let me guess, it all began with your grandfather who was part of the very first hero league that was established. Then your parents were legendary heroes as well, and fell in love while working together. Now your older sibling is in the first league as well and that’s why you decided to join the family business, huh?”

Killua stopped and looked up to Leorio who already waited for an answer. “I don’t know how you got all these ideas… but you are absolutely right.”

Leorio’s eyes grew wider and he stuttered a reply, while Kurapika laughed. “My, are you developing psychic abilities?”

Leorio rubbed his neck and grumbled something, before he replied “How could I know that all these unlikely scenarios are actually true. Until now I had assumed, no hero or ability user could be born under such conditions. No wonder you were able to beat those guys in the blink of an eye today.”

Killua shrugged. “If you say so… it’s not like I did it all myself. If Gon had not punched that lady before I got to attack her, it would have been a lot harder.”

Kurapika gave Gon a content pat on the shoulder. “I’ll report to the Academy’s headmaster that you two make a great team as soon as we get to the headquarter.” Before he could continue, his call bracelet blinks and he answers the call.

It was hard to make out what exactly the informant discussed with him, but Killua was sure he had heard the term “Spiders” and “bloodshed”.

Kurapika’s eyes began to glow in a dark shade of red and he gritted his teeth. “I’ll report back to your headmaster once I’ve finished another mission…” and without any words of goodbye he disappeared in the dark alley next to them.

Leorio sighed. “Working for the secret service as well sure isn’t good for his health. Come on you two, let’s head back without him.”

Gon gazed after Kurapika, clearly worried. “Will he be alright? I thought it was prohibited to fight the Spiders.”

“For ability users like me or newbies like the two of you, it is strongly recommended not to do so. But Kurapika is really strong himself… strong in terms of abilities, as well as strong willed. He’ll be alright. He always is.”

Although Gon seemed to believe in the man’s words, Killua could tell that it was a lie. At least Leorio wasn’t so confident in what he said himself. Fighting the Spiders could easily result in one’s own death, no matter how skilled the challenger might believe he was.

Once they made it back to the second league headquarter, Killua stopped thinking about what could happen to Kurapika and he forgot about the Spiders for a while. He and Gon had other things to worry about after all...

 


	3. The Spiders and the First League

“Big bro, I’ll be over there to take a look at the new first league action figures!”

“Ah, Alluka wait! Don’t run off somewhere else!” Illumi called after his sister, but the swift little girl had escaped his sight already. It wasn’t as if he did not enjoy the time he got to spend with his younger siblings – but they would never listen, at least Alluka didn’t. She really had a mind of her own.

Kalluto gently tugged at his sleeve and looked up to him with his big eyes. “Big bro… can we go look at the action figures too?” he asked.

Illumi sighed. Only Kalluto had good manners, as their mother would say, but it was usually accurate. His youngest brother never ran off somewhere without asking and was overall really well-behaved. Well at least one of the five siblings had to be – even though Illumi did not like to admit it, he had not always listened to his parents himself when he was younger.

“Of course we can. Maybe we’ll even find Alluka.” he sighed.

Instead of running off like their sister had done before, Kalluto followed Illumi around the large store in the mall of Yorkshin until they had found Alluka standing in front of the figure case.

“Kalluto, look! It’s Illumi!” Alluka shouted while pointing at the figure case.

“Hush.” Illumi placed a finger on his lips. “Don’t just give away my secret identity like that.”

Alluka tilted her head. “Huh?... Oh I see, I’m sorry!” she replied and covered her mouth symbolically.

Meanwhile, Kalluto looked closer at the figure inside the case with awe. “That Frostbite figure looks really well-made.”

Illumi leaned forward as well to observe the figure more closely. “Huh… but they never get the nose right. And i'm not that short…” he muttered.

“Maybe the Crimson Curse figure is just too tall.” Alluka suggested and pointed at another hero action figure next to the Frostbite one.

Illumi squinted his eyes, but then straightened up and shrugged. “I guess you can’t have everything. Come on, we’ve been in the mall all day. We still have to get groceries before we head back home.”

Alluka made a pout. “But I wanted to go and build a fairy princess bear! And I’m sure Kalluto wants to build one too.”

Kalluto twisted a lock of his hair and looked to the floor. “If it doesn’t have to be a fairy princess bear, then I would really like to…” he said quietly.

Illumi sighed. He could never turn down his younger siblings’ wishes, and he didn’t know when the next time he’d be able to spend time with them would be. “Fine. Go build your… what again?”

“Teddy bears.”

“Yeah, you two go build your bears and I’ll wait in front of the store or something. I need a break.”

Alluka took Kalluto’s hand and ran into the store with him, while Illumi sat down on the bench outside the shop and unlocked his phone.

Last night’s mission had not been exactly spectacular or exhausting. But Hisoka, who had slipped on Illumi’s ice, then had used his bungee gum to leap out of the fall. At the same time he had more or less kicked Illumi into a building while he had been busy fighting himself.

His back still ached and he somehow could still feel the tiny shards of the windows, that had been broken, sticking in his skin.

He chewed on the healing cut on his lips when he received a message from Hisoka.

_“Are you still mad?”_

“Well take a guess.” Illumi muttered. He chose not to reply and put his phone away, when he heard a familiar voice next to him.

“Illumi? I didn’t know you were at the mall today.”

Illumi looked up and found a pair of blue eyes staring into his own. “Ah, I didn’t see you coming, sorry.” He apologized, but Chrollo waved it off with a soft smile.

“It’s fine really. Mind if I sit down for a moment?”

“Not at all. It’s been some time since we last met.”

It was true; the last time they had met was almost a month ago. But Illumi was busy enough with his job, while Chrollo spent most of his time studying. At least from what Illumi had heard from him – he didn’t know whether that was actually the case or not.

Even though they had been friends since their childhood, Chrollo had always liked to keep some things to himself.

“True… I’m sorry that I forgot to reply to your text message too.”

Illumi tilted his head. “I sent you a message?”

“… I think so.” Chrollo replied, appearing amused. But when he took a closer look at Illumi, his smile faded. “You don’t look so good. Where do all those bruises come from?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you got into a fight. But if you did, I want to hear about it.”

“Huh?” Illumi covered his elbow out of reflex, but soon realized that hiding it was unnecessary, since Chrollo had already seen the large bruise and most likely the other scratches on his skin that had yet to heal up. “Oh…”

He looked to the ground and observed his shoes, before he replied. “Well, I didn’t really pay attention to what I was doing and was knocked out of a window.” Fooling Chrollo wasn’t a good idea and usually did not work out as well.

“Sounds as if you and Hisoka had a great time.” Chrollo replied without any change in his expression or asking further questions.

“More or less.”

Before one of them could switch to a different topic, Alluka and Kalluto ran out of the store. Alluka dashed to Illumi and held a pink bear in a glittery princess dress into his face.

“Look! Look what I made!” she turned her head to Chrollo. “Hello, Chrollo!” before she looked back at her brother. “Doesn’t she look pretty?”

Illumi gently shoved the bear out of his face to take a better look at the stuffed animal. “Sure... what’s her name?”

Alluka hopped onto the bench and sat down next to her brother and Chrollo. “She doesn’t have a name yet.” she replied.

“I see.” Illumi turned his attention to Kalluto who had been observing Chrollo curiously, but blushed when the man had looked back at him with a smile. “What about you, Kalluto?”

Kalluto handed his bear to Illumi quietly. It wasn’t as striking as the princess bear. It was simpler, with blue fur and a bowtie.

“This one’s pretty cute as well.”

Chrollo gave Kalluto a warm smile. “What a lovely bear. You sure put a lot of effort into it, didn’t you?”

Kalluto looked to the ground and nodded. “Yeah… I actually wanted to make a vampire, but there were no fangs. I’m sure they’re fine without it.”

Alluka tilted her head. “So it’s not a boy?”

Kalluto shook his head. “No. My bear is whatever it feels like.”

Illumi gave the bear back to his youngest brother and checked his phone again. Not exactly surprising, he had gotten another message from Hisoka. But he could wait – well he had to anyway, Illumi was not the kind of person to text others while talking to someone else.

Alluka searched for something inside her purse – it was pink as well of course, perfectly matching her dress and bow on her hair. When she had found what she had been searching for she handed a flyer to Illumi. “Here, look at this!”

“The diamond of the Yorbian continent.” Illumi read out the headline. “Huh, another exhibition. Great.” He gave the flyer back to Alluka who pouted.

“Hmpf. What other reaction can you expect from an older brother with no taste?”

“No taste, huh?” Illumi decided to ignore his sister’s last remark and waited for her to speak again instead.

“The diamond of Yorbia is the most expensive and largest diamond in the world. And I want to see it!” Alluka declared.

Chrollo leaned over to take a look at the cover picture of the flyer. “Is it really that large?”

Alluka nodded. “Yes. It’s about as big as… uh…”

“As big as mother’s handbag.” Kalluto replied whereat Chrollo had to grin slightly.

“My, then it must be quite big indeed. Interesting, I might drop by the exhibition too.” He rose to his feet. “If you would excuse me, I still have some errands to run. But we should really hang out again some time.”

Illumi nodded. “Sure, see you around.”

After Chrollo had left, Alluka tried to drag Illumi into another toy store. But before she succeeded, Illumi received a call from their mother who was impatiently waiting for her groceries already.

 

* * *

 

“Chief, why do we need this diamond? Isn’t stealing it just troublesome?”

Chrollo glanced down the roof before he took off his black gloves to turn around to Phinks. “Why would we not need the largest diamond in the world?”

“Yeah, seriously Phinks. What are you thinking? Who wouldn’t want this diamond? Just think of the money we’ll get for it on the black market. “Shalnark interjected with a pleased smile.

Phinks shrugged. “I suppose you’re right… I just meant that they’ll send the strongest ability users after us.”

“Are you questioning your own capabilities? If you’re scared of the heroes, you should have left with Pakunoda, Machi, Shizuku and Franklin to bring the real diamond to our hideout.” Feitan muttered while he waited for Kortopi to hand him another copy of the diamond.

Phinks was about to snap at the smaller man, but a side glance from Chrollo was enough to dissuade him from doing so. “I’m not scared. They’re just annoyingly strong, that’s it. It’d be more fun to just rip them apart with one hit.”

“Which you’ve never been able to do before.” Shalnark replied with a bright smile and almost had Phinks chewing off his head.

Chrollo shook his head and walked up to Kortopi. “Are you finished with the copies?”

“I am. These should be enough to distract the heroes for a while. At least long enough for Paku’s team to make it to the hideout.”

Feitan lifted up his copy of the diamond. “Hm, almost feels like the real one.” He looked over to Shalnark and Phinks who were still arguing – although it was only Phinks who was arguing while Shalnark laughed.  
“Hey, Shal… how is Uvo doing?”

Shalnark’s smile faded when he turned his head to answer Feitan. “He’s alive, if that’s what you wanted to hear…” he began to play around with his phone.

“Thanks to that chain guy he might not be able to use his abilities ever again.” Nobunaga, who had kept quiet until now, replied in Shalnark’s place.

“Huh, I see. Well, sooner or later we’ll take care of that chain user and make him pay.” Feitan said. “I can’t wait to see him suffer. “He added with an eerie grin that disappeared behind his high collar as he lowered his head.

Nobunaga turned his head to the east and squinted his eyes. “That’ll have to wait, we’re getting company.” He said.

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe the diamond of Yorbia was stolen. I mean, how are they going to sell it? Even most buyers on the black market wouldn’t dare to buy something that hot.” Biscuit wondered and checked the location of the exhibition site another time through her call bracelet.

“I don’t know.” Illumi said and felt like adding a _“and I don’t care.”_ as well, but Biscuit could be terrifying when she was mad and he decided to keep it to himself.

His arm still hurt from last night’s mission and he gritted his teeth as they approached the exhibition building. If he could have, he would have gone home instead – or to a doctor. But as a first league hero, he wasn’t allowed to just take breaks, unless he had suffered a life threatening wound.

“Ah!” Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around him and hug him from behind. During the process, he felt the bone inside his left arm crack. It wasn’t exactly hurtful, but the pressure added to the swelling sent a wave of pain through his upper body.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me that actually hurt.” Hisoka said and placed his head on Illumi’s shoulder from behind.

“It did. And stop that.” Illumi pushed Hisoka away and rubbed his arm, while an amused smile appeared on Biscuit’s lips.

“What do you want me to stop?”

“This whole… hugging thing. We’re supposed to be professional – at least act as if you are.” Illumi replied rather irritated – likely due to the pain. At least that was what Hisoka thought.

Usually Illumi was a rather reserved person and he decided not to take it personally. But once he really was in pain, he lost his temper more easily.

“As you wish, Ice King. Let’s take care of those thieves. I haven’t had a good fight in weeks.” He said and cracked his knuckles. There was nothing more exciting than fighting the Spiders.

It did not occur often that more than three members operated together. When he spotted the five shapes on the rooftop, his smile turned into a pleased grin. This would be fun.

 

* * *

 

Chrollo pushed his hair back into place after a gust of wind had blown it into his face. He turned around to the remaining members of the Spiders.

“Only three of them. Kortopi and Shalnark, you two can leave already.”

Shalnark pouted slightly. “Aw Chief, I wanted to join the fun too…” but his unhappy expression faded and he smiled back at Chrollo. “But if you don’t need my assistance, then I’ll head back with Kortopi.”

Chrollo nodded. “Take care.” His gaze wandered off to Feitan, who was prepared to draw his sword already. “We don’t need to kill them.”

“I know we don’t have to… but I would like to.”

“That won’t be necessary. At least for now, we should keep them alive. We can still kill them another time, Feitan. Keeping them around a little longer will be more entertaining than killing them tonight.”

Feitan sighed and shoved the sword back into its sheath. “As you say, Chief. Let’s see… which one would be more fun to fight? I really want to play with the ice ability user.”

Chrollo smiled gently. “Sorry, but that one belongs to me.” He took out his Ben’s knife. More would not be needed to hold himself up well in battle against Frostbite. Something about the man reminded him of someone familiar, but he couldn’t quite tell who it was. If they had not been enemies, they would probably even turn out to be quite compatible in terms of personality.

Feitan nodded. “Fine by me. I’ll take the blonde then. I don’t expect Phinks to be able to fight against a girl.”

Phinks gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “Do you think I care who I’m hitting? I’ll fight everyone, no matter what gender or position they might have.”

“Sure. I’m off then, good luck Chief. Don’t let that guy give you a cold.” Feitan said – in attempt to joke, and Chrollo replied with a nod.

“I certainly won’t.”

 

* * *

 

Hisoka had leaped off the rooftop and swung towards the exhibition complex before Illumi had gotten the chance to ask how they should proceed. But it was useless to make plans with Hisoka when it came to missions, since he seemed to have his own strategy that he would stick to no matter what the actual plan had been.

Biscuit had disappeared too already, and he was about to follow them himself, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Not so fast, Ice Prince.”

Illumi swung around less gracefully than he had intended to and bit his bottom lip when he spotted the Boss of the Spiders who had joined him on the rooftop.

“I’ll be your opponent.” The man said and a smile crossed his lips.

Illumi could not stand the Spiders, but his dislike for their leader was even stronger. It was the hint of arrogance and apathy the man emitted that ticked him off.

He did not hate him, in fact there was something familiar about him, but Illumi could not quite put his finger on what exactly it was. But the Boss of the Spiders reminded him of someone…

“Huh, fine by me.” Illumi replied and pushed back his hair. “It doesn’t matter who I’m fighting with anyway.”

 

* * *

 

Chrollo hummed lightly and had to smile again. Although Frostbite seemed to dislike him the most among the Spiders, he himself had to admit that he enjoyed fighting this particular hero the most. Not only was he easy on the eyes, he wasn’t as dense as many other heroes were.

Frostbite was hard to fool, and at the same time it was hard to see through his style of combat as well. Fighting him was most exciting.

“You seem very confident. What makes you think you can beat me so easily?” Chrollo asked.

Where many other heroes would have begun to question their abilities and explaining themselves, Frostbite began to approach him and stretched out his arm, emitting a cold aura already, engaging in battle mode.

“You’re not serious about this fight…” Frostbite spoke and made a pause, gathering his power.

“Oh, can you tell?” Chrollo dodged the first ice bolt that had almost struck him.

Frostbite leaped forward, creating two large ice blades attached to his arms that he swung at Chrollo and managed to cut through his sleeves.

 _“Not bad.”_ Chrollo thought, awaiting an answer. He could have started a counter attack, but he did not feel like fighting the hero today. The diamond was likely stored somewhere in their hideout already.

As if he had read his mind, Frostbite sighed and let the ice blades disappear. “You’re not serious about this fight, because the actual diamond is already somewhere else. Am I right?”

He could have used one of Kortopi’s copies, but Chrollo knew that the hero would see through it. Although he was an element-based ability user, he aalmost seemed to possess a slight amount of mental-based telekinesis power.

“That could be the case. But what are you going to do now that you won’t be able to retrieve the diamond?”

 

* * *

 

Illumi could feel his anger boiling, but tried to hide it. Of course those conniving bastards had taken the actual diamond to a safe place. The diamond he had spotted in the hands of another member of the Spiders was definitely fake. There was no point in trying to squeeze the information out of his opponent. There was also no point in fighting him, since they were both equally strong.

But he would not just let the Spiders get away with this, not without a fight and not without possible wounds and bruises. Their boss would pay for making a fool out of him.

He formed thin and sharp needles out of ice and flung them at his opponent, this time with greater force and more rapid speed.

While the Boss of the Spiders managed to dodge most of them, one of the icy needles tore through his shirt, cutting his skin. Another hit shortly followed, damaging his mask. He covered the damaged part with his hand, tightening his grasp on his knife. But attacking with a damaged mask was pointless since Illumi could now rip it off with ease.

“This isn’t over, pretty boy. The next time you face me, first I’ll break your bones and then tear off your mask on running camera.” The man said, his voice less soft than it had been before. He quickly leaped off the building, giving a sign to the other two Spiders to withdraw.

“Stop running!” Biscuit shouted as she jumped onto the rooftop next to Illumi and gritted her teeth. “Ugh! Why did you let them get away?”

“Why would I fight when I know I won’t be able to win?” He asked, as the words of his father echoed through his head. But his old man had been right. Taking too much risks wasn’t worth it, especially when it came to fighting the Spiders.

Biscuit tilted her head with a slight pout. “Hm. Well I guess you’re not wrong… but it’s still frustrating that they got away! The princess of Yorbia will be heartbroken when she learns her diamond has been stolen.”

“It’s not like she could have worn something that big anyway.” Hisoka suddenly spoke as he appeared behind them. His suit was severely torn, but it still covered everything that had to be covered.

While Bisky gasped with delight at the sight in front of her, Illumi sighed. At least now they had a good reason to demand new hero suits.

“Let’s head back… I’m done for tonight.”

 

* * *

 

Chrollo had been surprised when Illumi had suggested to hang out somewhere, but he had agreed gladly.

While he took a sip of his coffee, Illumi gazed out of the window of the café with an expression that was rather unfamiliar for him. He almost seemed downcast, which was rare since Illumi didn’t exactly show a lot of emotions.  
  
“Are you feeling alright?” Chrollo asked after a while.

Illumi blinked and turned his head to face his friend again. “Huh? Oh… yeah, I’m alright. Just a bit tired…” he made a pause. “Turns out the diamond my sister wanted to see so badly was stolen last night. She’s been whining about it all day.”

“Oh that’s quite a shame. I feel sorry for Alluka.”

Illumi shrugged and poured more sugar into his coffee. “She’ll get over it. Didn’t you want to go see it as well?”

Chrollo smiled slightly. “I actually got to take a good look at it yesterday, before it was stolen that is.”

“I see.”

Before one of them could continue the conversation, Hisoka who had just entered the café, placed his hands on Illumi’s shoulders, who almost dropped his spoon in surprise.

While Illumi scolded Hisoka who was not conscious of any guilt, Chrollo amusedly watched the two with a soft smile, until a sharp pain struck him.

He placed his hand on his arm and could feel the cut he had gotten from Frostbite last night. It wasn’t that huge, but despite the pain it was a great damage to his ego. Although he had not exactly been beaten, the fact that this certain hero had caused him to withdraw was only bearable because they had managed to steal the diamond.

But he would not let Frostbite get away with this. The next time, things would end differently.


	4. Crimson Curse and Frostbite

Hisoka crossed his legs and leaned back in the armchair that stood in the waiting hall. It was a common thing to meet up with his and Illumi’s contractors from time to time. They would discuss marketing plans, what had to be adjusted in their “performances” as heroes and what not.

But today was somewhat special. For the first time since the day they had met, Illumi was late.

And Illumi was never late. In fact he was the most punctual person Hisoka knew.

Finally the large door swung open and Illumi appeared in the doorway, with his hair tied up and looking overall less spectacular than usually.

He let himself fall into the chair next to Hisoka and sighed. “Did they notice I wasn’t punctual?”

Hisoka tilted his head back and observed the birds that sat outside on the glass ceiling of the hall. “Not yet.”

“Good.”

While Hisoka watched a pigeon clean its plumage, he could hear Illumi taking something – probably his phone – out of the holes of his sweater. _His sweater_ … _his_ s _weater?_

“Illumi, are you ill? Are you not feeling well?” He asked as he took a closer look at the other, who not only was dressed with less effort today, but did not even look anything like the Illumi Hisoka knew.

Illumi gave him a confused look. “Huh?”

“You come to meet with your contractors wearing a sweater, jogging pants and sneakers – and a bun.”

“What’s your point?” Illumi asked and took a quick glance at his phone screen to check the time but flinched back at the sight of his lock screen. “What the-“

Hisoka leaned over to Illumi to look at the phone as well. “Oh, isn’t that this new famous idol? The one who left this girl group to start a solo career?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know you were into that kind of music, but I won’t judge-“

“Hisoka, this isn’t my phone. I took the wrong one with me.” Illumi said with a monotonous voice, with an expression as if he doubted his own sanity. “That’s Alluka’s phone.”

Hisoka raised an eyebrow. “Is yours broken?”

Illumi sighed and buried his face with his hands. “No it’s not. Let's just pretend this never happened.”

“Sure…” Hisoka replied and looked out of the window for a while, before he turned his head back to Illumi.

“You’re losing your grip lately, what’s up with that?”

Illumi had begun to twist a lock of his hair and shrugged without changing his expression whatsoever. “I don’t know…” he made a pause. “Lately I just feel confused. That’s it.”

“That’s it, huh?” Hisoka muttered. He could have continued to poke around, but once Illumi began to stare at a certain spot in the room and spaced out, there was no point in asking him further questions.

While Hisoka grabbed one of the high-end magazines that were displayed on a table near their seats, Illumi stared out of the window. Although he appreciated Hisoka’s more or less well-meant concern, he felt that this was something that he should keep to himself. Besides, he would not under any circumstances start showing any signs of weakness to anyone.

What troubled Illumi was something that had occurred to him a few weeks ago, something not even any of his family members knew about.

Out of nowhere he had felt lightheaded and his nose had begun to bleed, and a short while after his powers had been gone completely – that was what he had thought at first.

Illumi’s powers had re-appeared after a few hours, but that had been the exact moment at which things had begun to change.

He forgot things, had gotten lost in his own thoughts while at other times he had not been able to catch a clear thought at all. It was unnatural, at least for Illumi. His whole life he had been focused and attentive, but it seemed he would not return to being like that anytime soon.

Whenever he felt lightheaded, the same sequence was repeated in front of his inner eye: a large, but empty room, a bright and cold light-

“You may enter now, Mr.  Zoldyck and Mr. – Uh…” the young secretary who had entered the hall looked to the floor with an embarrassed blush.

“Morou. It’s Morou” Hisoka replied and gave her a wink.

The young woman’s face turned even redder and she answered with a nod “Uh- Yes, sir! I won’t forget it again.”

Hisoka entered the office with the secretary gazing after him and Illumi could only roll his eyes. It was hard to tell whether Hisoka was actually serious while flirting, but it was annoying each time.

Only now Illumi realized that he should have taken a few more minutes to pick a more fitting outfit for today’s meeting, but on the other hand he was glad that he had at least remembered the meeting.

Hisoka took a seat on the red sofa that stood across from another sofa, where, surprisingly, only their managers were waiting for them already.

Illumi bit his bottom lip when he sat down, still feeling slightly out of place. Instead of giving him a weird look, they didn’t seem to notice his rather informal attire at all.

“I’m glad you made it, now let’s begin.” The young woman, Mrs. Agreste, who sat across from Illumi said and crossed her legs. She glanced over to her partner, Mr. Downe who gave her an approving nod.

“While your performances lately have been very pleasing, there are some changes that will be made. But first of all, Mr. Zoldyck: During the last photo shoot, you refused to pose in swimwear. Why is that?”

Illumi almost choked on the tea he had taken a sip from. “Excuse me?”

“You can’t just refuse to wear the clothes picked for you. It casts a negative light on us, thus our company. Please just wear the swimwear the next time.”

Illumi gritted his teeth, but didn’t dare to show any sign of anger. “I’ll think about it.” He decided for himself that he would not pose in anything too revealing during the next photoshoot. Not over his dead body. The whole thing was not only uncomfortable for him, but he could not live with the thought of his mother looking into one of her magazines ones day to find her own son posing in underwear, swimwear and whatnot.

The young woman carried on with her report of other appointments coming up in the future, while Mr. Downe seemed to mentally prepare himself for his part of the meeting.

After Mrs. Agreste had finished, he cleared his throat. Before he actually began to speak he sighed.

“It was a hard decision, but together with our partner company we have decided to try out a new concept together. While HeroTV as a format is already very successful, we came up with something that will get the show higher viewer ratings and give us a better reputation.” He made a pause, enjoying the curious look he earned from Mrs. Agreste.

“It has come to our attention that the two of you always sell better together than one of you alone.”

Illumi tilted his head. “What exactly do you mean when you say that?”

“The concept of Crimson Curse and Frostbite fighting side by side is more popular than just one of you appearing on screen. You have by far the biggest fan base, and what your fans want to see is the two of you – together. Which brings me to the next point: To ensure that your beloved fans will get what they want, we will be forming the first hero team in the history of HeroTV. You won’t be the only team that will be introduced though. Soon two rookies will make their debut in first league as a team, but I assume that is something you already know about Mr. Zoldyck.”

Illumi leaned back. “Yeah, Thunderstruck and Emerald… something.”

Hisoka raised an eyebrow. “How did you know about that?”

“Mr. Zoldyck is related with one of the two, but you may discuss this later. I would like to carry on.” Mr. Downe interrupted and continued.

“The two of you will receive matching new hero suits for your debut as a team. Head to the designer laboratory after our meeting to try them on.”

Mrs. Agreste cleared her throat. “Yes, please do. But there is something else we have to discuss about this new concept.”

Her awkward smile was enough to raise Illumi’s suspicion. God knew what their contractors had come up with again. It certainly would not be pleasant.

Mr. Downe rubbed the back of his neck and rose to his feet. “Well, Mrs. Agreste, I believe you are more suited for this conversation than I am. I will report back to the contractors that our meeting was successful.” And with that he left.

Mrs. Agreste took a deep breath and sighed. “Fine… how should I put this…” she skimmed through her notes.

“Within your fan base the large majority likes to see Crimson Curse and Frostbite as more than just partners. For even better sales, your contractors have decided to let both of your hero identities come closer to each other.”  
  
“So what you are saying is that the two of us should act more as friends on camera?” Hisoka asked, while it already dawned to Illumi that there was more involved than just the pretend of a friendly relationship.

Mrs. Agreste confirmed his concern when she finally replied. “I am afraid, what both your fans and contractors demand is not the concept of Crimson and Frostbite as friends… it is the concept of them becoming lovers.”

“Lovers. Really? Are we supposed to just randomly start kissing on screen?” he asked.

“Don’t be so shy Illumi.” Hisoka playfully smirked at Illumi, who just sighed, while Mrs. Agreste shook her head.

“Oh no, not like that. Perhaps I should have expressed myself a little more clearly. All we want is to provide more fan service. A bit more body contact here, some hints there… just barely enough to create the illusion that Crimson and Frostbite might be closer than they seem to be.”

“I still don’t like this…” Illumi said quietly, but he already knew that once their contractors had made their decisions there was no point in arguing about it. The only thing he looked for now were the new suits.

Hisoka gave Illumi a pat on the shoulder before he got up from the sofa. “Oh come on, it’ll be fun. Or are you perhaps scared of actually falling for me?”

“In your dreams.” As if he would ever fall for Hisoka. Illumi rose to his feet as well and said his goodbyes to Mrs. Agreste, while Hisoka shrugged and strutted out of the room.

 

* * *

 

The new suits were a lot more promising than the old ones – at least Hisoka’s was.

“Now that’s a power suit if I’ve ever seen one.” Hisoka checked himself out in the large mirror and played around with the buttons on his arm. The call bracelet was now integrated into the suit itself. Illumi didn’t understand what kind of difference this would make, but perhaps he didn’t have to.

Finally the engineer and designer of the new suits came to stop Hisoka from pressing another button. “Sir! You can’t fire the missiles in here.”

“I’m pretty sure that I can… but it might not end well for you.” Hisoka replied and earned a furrow from the designer who walked over to the dressing cabin.

“Mr. Zoldyck, do you need help entering the suit?”

“No, I’m fine.”

But Illumi wasn’t fine, in fact he was about to throw the suit into a corner and leave it there to rot. Not only was it way too tight, it revealed more than he would have liked. He didn’t feel like leaving the dressing cabin, but he had no choice.

When he finally walked out, Hisoka suddenly stopped playing around with the buttons and looked him other up and down.

“Wow. Where do you plan to go with that?”

Illumi froze when he saw his own reflection in the mirror and for the first time today he was speechless. And not in a good way.

“Oh no…”

The designer observed the suit closely and took measurements again, before he gave Illumi a questioning look. “You don’t look pleased.”

“I am not exactly pleased, no.” Illumi replied and threw his hair over his shoulder.

The new suit was tight and white as well, but the fabric reminded him of the terrible glossy jacket his mother had bought him when he had went to primary school. But the worst part had to be the front.

“Why is the light blue plastic that is supposed to cover my abs see-through?”

“For aesthetic reasons?” Hisoka said and quickly dodged the icicle that was thrown at him. “In what a bad mood you are today. It was merely a compliment.”

Illumi bit his lips and the blue glow around his eyes disappeared. “I don’t need compliments, I want a normal suit. Why do you get a power suit, and I get this… thing?”

“A nano-suit, Mr. Zoldyck. It’s less heavy and allows you to move more freely.” The designer interrupted and took a small tablet out of his pocket. “I received the order from your contractors, to design a power suit for Mr. Morou - to provide some more protection since he obviously is too careless during his missions -  and a nano-suit for you. I stuck exactly to the design ideas I received from the producers of HeroTV.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it…” Illumi muttered and looked his reflection in the mirror up and down.

“Of course not.” The designer carried on, “But you are contractually obligated to wear it during your missions.”

Illumi sighed and tried to hide his displeasure behind a neutral expression, but apparently not good enough for Hisoka not to notice.

“Illumi, you have no idea what I would do to wear your suit myself. You look marvelous in it.”

“Then knock yourself out and wear it in my place. I feel kind of vulnerable in it…” He looked over to the designer. “Could you cover up the see through part?”

“I’m afraid the see through part was the number 1 requirement from the producers.” The designer made a pause. “But we could cover up the part around your abs and add a ‘window’ around your chest area.”

A wide grin appeared on Hisoka’s lips and he chuckled. “A cleavage window? What an interesting idea.”

Illumi shrugged. “Fine… everything is better than what I’m wearing right now.”

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you’re already leaving for the first league. You’ve grown a lot during the last weeks!” Leorio proudly declared and gave both Gon and Killua a pat on the shoulder. The three of them stood in the entryway of the first league headquarter, since today Killua and Gon would finally join the first league.

Before Leorio continued his praise, he asked a bit more quietly “And you’re sure you’re ready for this? If you want to stay in second league with me a little longer, I won’t mind.”

Gon laughed. “I’m 100% sure! But don’t be sad Leorio; we’ll drop by to visit you sometimes!”

Killua shrugged. “Sure, why not. Hey, don’t get emotional old man!” he shouted when Leorio wiped a small tear from his eyes, who immediately huffed at that remark.

“Who are you calling old, you brat! I’m still a teen too, you know?”

Killua’s eyes widened. “No way.”

But before Leorio could get any angrier, Kurapika suddenly joined them. “Hey, how are you doing? Still getting on Leorio’s nerves I see?” he asked jokingly and laughed, whereat Leorio snorted and turned away with his arms crossed.

“That’s not it… I just feel sad about them leaving already.” He muttered, his face turning slightly red.

Gon jumped and gave him a hug. “Don’t be sad! This isn’t goodbye forever, just for a while. I’m sure soon you’ll make it to first league too!”

Leorio returned the hug, but waved it off after he had let Gon down. “First league isn’t my cup of tea. I’m not interested in becoming that famous and embarrassing myself on TV. I can do it just as well where less people see it.”

“A healthy attitude for someone that clumsy.” Killua said and Leorio huffed again, but this time Kurapika interfered before the man could snap again.

“Let him, he doesn’t mean it. Right, Killua?”

“Sure.” Killua replied, but he did in fact mean it. He looked up to Kurapika. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Did you come here to say goodbye to us as well?” Gon asked curiously.

Kurapika shook his head. “No, not exactly. I came here, because I too am joining the first league.” He replied with a smile.

Leorio dropped his jaw. “And you didn’t even tell me… Why are you all leaving me?” he asked, clearly unhappy.

Kurapika rubbed the back of his neck. “How should I put this… after my last mission, I was offered a position in the first league. They were more than grateful to hire someone who managed to take out one of the Spiders all by himself.”

Gon’s eyes widened with surprise. “Did you kill a member of the Spiders all by yourself?”

“I didn’t kill him… but he won’t be able to harm anyone ever again.” Kurapika answered. “Although he would have deserved to die…”

Leorio placed a hand on the blond’s shoulder. “You did the right thing. Sticking to the ‘be the bigger person’ concept, I mean.”

Kurapika’s face lit up again and he smiled at the taller man. “Thank you… I have to remind myself of that more often.”

Killua yawned and stuck his hands in his pockets. He had spent the last minutes looking around the entry hall, trying to make out who of those who entered could be a hero. The blonde girl with the pink dress that had entered a while ago seemed familiar, but he wasn’t sure whether she really was a hero.

Suddenly he spotted someone he had not seen for a while. “Big bro!”

Gon swung around “Big bro? Where?” and his eyes lit up. He was still excited to meet members of Killua’s family. But he had anticipated the day he would finally be able to meet Frostbite in real life.

Killua waved at Illumi, who was already wearing his suit and mask. He waved back, but was still talking to a woman in a business suit and another man with scarlet hair – likely Crimson Curse, but it was hard to say since he did not wear his usual outfit.

Gon leaned over to Killua and asked “Is he going to come over here?”

“Not likely. I already told you my brother can be… not exactly social sometimes. But if you want to meet him so badly, we can head over to them.” Killua said and Gon nodded.

“Alright!”

“I guess I’ll see you guys around later.” Kurapika said and said his goodbyes.

Leorio gave both of them a last pat on the shoulder, declaring how proud it made him that he had been their mentor and wished them good luck for their first mission.

“We’ll come visit you!” Gon shouted after him and waved until Leorio was out of sight. He swung around and smiled at Killua. “Can we say hi now?”

“Sure, just don’t jump at my brother or something.” Killua said with a grin. Gon could be so dorky when he was excited about something.

Killua could tell how hard Gon tried to resist the urge to just sprint over to the two heroes.

“Hey Killu.”

Killua gave his brother a high five, which seemed a lot cooler to him than the awkward sibling hug his brother loved so much. He could almost sense Illumi’s disappointment when he did not hug him, but Killua did not feel like embarrassing himself in front of Gon.

But Gon seemed too amazed by the presence of the two heroes alone to even notice.

Illumi turned his head to Gon who still stared at him in awe.

“Hey there, uh... friend of Killua.”

Gon snapped out of his amazement and formally bowed to greet him. “I’m Gon! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Frostbite, sir!”

Killua gently nudged him. “Don’t be so formal, just say Frostbite… And don’t introduce yourself with your real name.” he hissed.

Gon hit himself against his forehead. “Oh no! I forgot about that.”

Crimson Curse smirked and pushed back a lock of his hair. “My, calm down a bit, little fruit. We’ll be working together in the future, no need to treat us like celebrities.” His smirk turned wider. “Although I do appreciate it.”

Illumi rolled his eyes, then turned back to Gon and Killua. “It’s fine, really… so, what do we address you as from now on?”

Gon’s face lit up and he struck a pose. “You may call me Emerald Crusher!”

“Oh, I like that name.” Illumi said and looked at Killua expectantly. “And what about you, Killu?”

Killua made a pout and felt his blood pumping through his head. This whole name thing was still slightly embarrassing.

“…Thunderstruck. That’s my alias.”

Crimson Curse grinned. “Thunderstruck and Frostbite, huh? You sure are related… once both of you appear with your white hair and blue eyes, it’ll be more than obvious.”

“But my eyes aren’t blue and my hair isn’t white.” Illumi protested.

“I meant after you activate your powers, dear.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Crimson chuckled. “Remember what our producers want us to do. I’m just trying to get into character already. If they want Crimson Curse to go after Frostbite, that’s what I’ll do.”

Illumi let out a sigh, but did not reply.

The whole thing was more than suspicious to Killua and he raised an eyebrow. “The producers want you to go after my brother? How?”

Before Crimson could reply, Illumi quickly waved it off. “It’s just meant as a plot device, it’s nothing serious. Let’s continue our conversation later; we’ll have to head out soon.”

They said their goodbyes and Killua and Gon headed into the dressing rooms, while Illumi and Hisoka left for final instructions.

But it seemed weird to Killua how his brother had reacted all of a sudden. If he would actually not care, he probably would have shrugged and said he didn’t mind. But the way he had denied it as quickly as possible did not seem like him at all. Maybe the whole thing wasn’t just a meaningless plot device after all…

 

* * *

 

Gon almost tripped over his suit before he stumbled over to Killua who stood in front of the statue dedicated to the first five heroes that had protected Yorkshin over 100 years ago. It was a weird feeling to wait for their sign to make an appearance where once the first underground lord had been struck down.

“Do you think we’ll get to make our appearance today already…?” Gon asked, although the question did not seem to be directed to Killua or someone else at all.

“I highly doubt it… We’re only the backup. At least for today. After all, they want to introduce my brother and Crimson as the new hero team first.” Killua answered and Gon stretched his mask to let it snap back onto his face.

“You’re probably right…Do you think we’ll manage to fulfill everyone’s expectations once we get to move out?”

Killua shrugged. “It all worked out before, so why should we fail all of a sudden? It doesn’t matter whether we arrest a criminal or not on our first day, all that counts is to make a good entrance.”

Deep down he hoped he would not embarrass himself on his first day already, but if something went wrong it could not be helped. Everyone in the first league had somehow survived their first day and he would hopefully do so as well. Although part of him had looked forward to carry out a mission today already, he’s now glad they were just the backup – in case something went wrong or someone got seriously injured.

He glanced over to the monitors inside the van of the camera team close to them to see who exactly the heroes were after. Much to his surprise their opponent did not look as threatening as the others he had encountered until now…

 

* * *

 

A few blocks away, Illumi was busy fighting off various puppets their opponent controlled, although he could sense no energy connecting them.

After he threw the last one off the building, he turned back to face his opponent directly.

“Drop the girl now, Cat-lady.”

“I’m not a woman, Mr. Snowman.” The white haired ability user purred and wiggled with their cat ears. It was hard for Illumi to tell whether they were actually real or not. But this cat-person wastrying to kidnap a young girl who was likely an ability user as well, judging by the energy she emitted, and he would not let them get away with this.

“Then what are you?” He asked, although he was getting impatient. It would have been easier to just run up to them and shove an icicle up their throat, but his contract forbid him to kill any kind of opponent.

“I “ the cat-like ability user began to speak, “ am known as Neferpitou the Cat Burglar~ But you’re cute, so you might as well just call me Pitou, nya.”

Illumi’s eyes widened slightly. “What was that?”

“What do you mean, nya?”

“Did you just say ‘nya’?”

“So what if I did, I’m not interested in fighting you anyway. Who I would like to fight however… doesn’t seem to be here today, which is a huge disappointment. ButI cannot let his majesty wait any longer for what he desires.” Pitou replied and dashed towards Illumi with such a speed he could not see the attack coming that threw him off the skyscraper.

He would hit the ground before he could build up enough energy to use the boost of his own attack to carry him into the building across the street. The impact on the ground would not kill him, but he would have to expect several broken bones. All that he could hope for now was-

“Crimson?”

He felt an arm wrap around his torso and looked up where a pair of golden eyes met his own and Hisoka replied with a playful grin. “That cat was a little too fast for you, huh?”

He used his bungee bum to leap across several buildings before his feet touched the ground again.

“You have to be more careful, that was close…” Hisoka spoke in a much deeper voice that sent shivers down Illumi’s spine.

He was still bewildered, trying to process what had just happened, before he realized that Hisoka now carried him in his arms.

“Let me down. This is embarrassing.” He hissed quietly, whereas Hisoka bend down to whisper in his ear.

“Remember what the producers want. Just play your part and they’ll leave us alone for today.”

Every part of his body reacted against what he was about to do, but if this was part of the job Illumi would get it done.

He blinked and wrapped his arms around Hisoka’s neck. “Crimson… you really came for me.”

Hisoka chuckled and threw back his head. “Of course I did. I could not stand the thought of you getting hurt.”

 _“Now that’s a little cheesy.”_ Illumi thought, but he knew that neither their producers nor Hisoka would tolerate him to break character a second time.

“Don’t… don’t say embarrassing things like that.” He said softly, facing away from Hisoka which made it easier to suppress the urge to laugh, and continued “Thank you…”

He came to the conclusion that this should have been enough to please the producers and the audience and he looked back up the skyscraper where he spotted Pitou.

They probably would have disappeared already, but another hero had appeared and now blocked their way with his gigantic scythe.

“That… cat is a little too strong for my taste.” He said after Hisoka let him down to his feet again, who closely observed the fight.

“Hm, if you say that, they might even be stronger than I am.” A devilish grin crossed his face. “But that makes everything much more exciting.”

Illumi shrugged. “If you’re into a cat beating you into a pulp, then treat yourself. I’m done here…” he said and walked away from the scene when someone – and that someone could not be anyone else besides Hisoka – grabbed his wrist.

“Wait, we need to talk.”

 

* * *

 

Before Killua knew what was happening, Gon dashed over to the monitors and stared at the hero with the scythe in awe.

“I… I know him!”

Killua walked over to the monitors to get a better look as well, although he was still trying to forget the image of his brother being carried bridal-style by Crimson. That really was something he never wanted to see.

He leaned over Gon’s shoulder curiously. “Who is that? How do you know each other?”

Gon did not avert his attention from the screen when he answered, “That’s… Kite. He was the one who told me about Hero Academy and my father in the first place! He’s the reason I decided to go to Yorkshin. I hope he will beat that cat ability user. They seem really strong, if they managed to swoop your brother off the building in the blink of an eye.”

“Yeah… that could have ended badly if it hadn’t been for Crimson. I hope your friend there… Kite, yes? – I hope he manages to stop them before they can take their hostage away.”

The reason why they had taken the girl with them in the first place was a mystery to him. Whatever their boss, this ‘Majesty’ they had referred to, wanted with her – they were up to no good.

Over the speakers they heard the cat-like ability user talk to Kite who had not dared to wield his scythe while the little girl was still in reach.

“Unhand her at once, Pitou. If you don’t, I will find a way to cut you apart without hurting her.”

“You’re so cruel… would you really like to kill me with your cute little weapon?” Pitou replied and let out a purr, whereat Kite began to advance forward.

“Do you think this is a game?”

“It’s my favorite game, actually – to watch that expression of yours once you get really mad. It’s adorable.” Pitou gracefully leapt back when Kite swung his weapon at them, not with even half his actual speed or power since he tried to keep the girl unharmed. “But I really can’t let you have her. His majesty needs her energy to sustain his life force. I would love to play with you some more, but I must hurry.”

“Then I’ll have to hurry too…” Kite muttered before he dashed towards Pitou from the right and made a move to strike out. While the other was about to counter his attack, he leaped to the left and struck them into the pit of their stomach with the snatch of his scythe.

Pitou gasped, distinctly surprised that Kite had been able to actually strike them with an attack, and only for a moment they let go of the girl.

Kite ran to catch her and once he had his arm wrapped around her, he dashed away from Pitou. In the process his mask had almost fallen off, but the little girl suddenly reached up her arms to his face and pressed it back against his face.

“Thank you, kid.” He said, while the little girl could finally put on a smile again after the shock of being kidnapped by a horrifyingly strong cat-person.

“No, come back! I need that little human for his majesty!” Pitou hissed, but before they could chase after him, a man with butterfly wings landed behind them.

“Let it go, we found another way to feed our kind without stealing humans away.” He said and pushed back a blonde lock of his hair that had fallen into his face.

Pitou gritted their teeth and spoke again, before they held onto the winged man and flew away, but the signal of the TV Van went out before the last camera flung back to Kite as well.

Gon’s eyes lit up and he finally turned around to Killua. “Isn’t he amazing?”

Killua was still asking himself whether the two had been actually human. He raised his eyebrows at Gon’s question and leaned back. “Is there even one hero you don’t find amazing?”

“Oh come on, you have to admit he did an amazing job back there.” Gon replied and stuck out his tongue. “Let’s head back to the headquarter already, I don’t want to miss him… I want to ask him some things about my dad.”

 

* * *

 

Illumi still wasn’t sure whether he should be fond of being lead into a backstreet by Hisoka to just ‘talk’ or not, but he didn’t have time to think about it once Hisoka began to speak.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Then ask.”

Hisoka made a pause, as if he tried to find the right way to put his thoughts into words, then turned back around to Illumi.

“Since the day we got these new instructions, you’ve been acting different around me… You’re cold – more than you usually are. You ignore my messages or calls, and suddenly you try to avoid any kind of body contact.”

“Huh… I didn’t notice anything.” Illumi replied, but he knew himself that it was a lie. It was true, but he didn’t know exactly why he got the urge to push Hisoka away. They had always been somewhat good friends, but now… he felt as if something could change in the way he felt about the man if he lets him get to close.

“Well, I certainly did. Did I do something that made you uncomfortable? If so, then please tell me. Usually when you act weird or you’re mad I know what I might have done wrong. But this time I can’t put my finger on it what it is.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” But Illumi did nothing wrong either. That’s what he tried to convince himself, but this time it didn’t quite work as well as it usually did. He let out a sigh. Hisoka gave him that kind of look which he absolutely could not stand. It was a completely neutral expression, but his eyes reflected something close to disappointment and the anticipation of an answer.

“I admit that I hate the new instructions. Not because you’re getting almost uncomfortably close to me or you’re touching me more than you do anyway… but they’re making me question how I feel.”

Hisoka gently tilted his head. “How so?”

“That’s no business of yours. Lately I’ve been feeling strange, as if I’m not in control of my own mind anymore. I just don’t want this new plot device to make me feel something that isn’t even there…”

“Not there, huh? Alright, fair enough….” Illumi could almost hear the disappointment in Hisoka’s voice, but the man changed back to his usual confident smile. “If that’s settled, we should head back.”

Although for Illumi nothing had been settled, he decided to let it go for the moment. “Sure… But seriously, thank you for catching me back then. I already saw myself in the hospital.”

Hisoka hummed lightly and grinned. “Oh, you know I would never let you fall from a skyscraper.”

“I really didn’t expect you to come.”

“Are you now trying to insult me?” Hisoka asked jokingly.

“Of course not. I would never do that.” Illumi replied, while a slight smile appeared on his face as well. It was definitely better this way, him and Hisoka just being friends. It would be best to forget about those feelings. Where had they even come from? He would just lock them away and not think of something that foolish again.

 

* * *

 

“Kite, wait!”

Killua was surprised when suddenly Gon ran off, but then remembered what he had told him earlier. He wasn’t exactly sure whether he should join Gon who was already talking with the tall, slender white haired man.  
Was he really in the position to be part of this?

Suddenly he felt an emptiness he remembered all too well. Before he had joined Hero Academy to become a hero himself, he had always been rather lonely. Of course he had his siblings, but back then he wanted nothing more than a friend…

Before he could lose himself in his own depressing thoughts, Gon waved at him to come over to him and Kite and Killua let out a relieved sigh. What a silly thought… as if Gon would just abandon him. He shook his head and walked over to Kite and Gon, who was bombarding the man with questions already.

“Kite, was it creepy to fight against that cat ability user?” Gon asked, his eyes shimmering brightly.

“Uh… it was alright. It was a normal fight, I guess. But that Cat Burglar is really strong, if I didn’t know them well enough, it could have ended quite differently.” Kite replied calmly. “But is that really something you want to know from me? I was expecting you to ask me about… you know, your father.”

“Oh… Ah yes, I was about to get there.” Gon replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He made a pause. “… Do you know where he currently is? Last time you told me already that he left Yorkshin long time ago to work in the world league.”

Kite sighed and sat down on a chair in the lobby. He took off the damaged mask and observed it closely before he replied. “I have to admit, I have not seen your father in a while. You know, your father isn’t the most social person anyway. Everyone knows him, but no one really knows something about him.”

Gon sat down on a sofa across Kite’s chair and pouted. “Hm… I guess he really doesn’t care about me that much anyway.”

Killua sat down next to Gon and placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt a little awkward, since he had never been good at comforting anyone, but he could not stand by when Gon was feeling down.

“When we first met, you told me your father never revealed himself to you because he was afraid his enemies would come after you and your family… I doubt he doesn’t care about you. Maybe he’s just really busy lately.”

Gon glanced up to Killua and his face lit up a little. “You might be right… maybe he has so much to do, that he hasn’t even been able to contact Kite.”

Kite cleared his throat and disrupted Gon before he could say more. “Gon, your father never contacts me. He just told me to look after you once you make it to first league… I’m sure, once you make your debut on TV, he will somehow contact you. That’s the other thing he told me before he left the city.”

Gon’s eyes lit up and he jumped up from the couch. “Then we have to make our first appearance as soon and as spectacular as possible, understood Killua?”

“Sure.”

While Kite laughed and assured Gon that he should not overreact now, Killua had to smile. Sometimes he wished he could be as lighthearted as Gon was.

He was already drifting off into his thoughts, when suddenly Gon poked his cheek. “Killua, let’s get out of these suits, yes? Mine’s really getting uncomfortable.”  
  
Killua squinted and looked at Gon. “Uh… yeah.”

Kite stored away his mask and patted Gon’s head before he left. “Take care, Gon. I’ll see you around.”

Gon waved after the man until he was gone, and turned back to Killua.

“Come on, let’s take off these things and go eat something. I’m getting hungry.”

Killua laughed “Hungry? You didn’t even do anything spectacular today.” Whereat Gon stuck out his tongue. “So what if I didn’t. I’m still growing, so I have to eat a lot anyway.”

“If you say so.”

After they had gotten dressed, they made a stop at a restaurant before heading back to Hero Academy. Gon was still excited about their first appearance and slowly, even Killua began to look forward to it.

 


	5. Revelation

_The room was composed of four high walls of thick steel with the area number on them, and filled with bright floodlights which aimed for him. His hands were bound to the chair they had placed him on._

_“Dad, I don’t want to do this.”_

_His objection was ignored. The senior physician looked up from the form he was currently filling in._

_“Don’t worry kid; those are only for safety reasons. The intervention will only take mere seconds.” He bend down next to the chair and ruffled through the little one’s hair._

_“Your father only came to this decision to protect you, kid. Now don’t move until this is over and you’ll be all better.”_

_Better? But wasn’t he fine already? He felt his heartbeat speeding up and fear creeping through his body. He did not want to be here, and if he had to be, he his father to be here with him. He did not want to be alone; not knowing what was going to happen or why he even was here._

_The engine in front of him roared and began to boot up. The light grew brighter and the weird, deformed engine crawled closer to him._

_“Dad, get me out of here! I want to go back home!-…_ “

“… Don’t let them hurt me!”

“Big bro!”

His hands were suddenly free and the blinding light was gone. Little hands were placed on his shoulder and still tried to shake him awake. His eyes snapped open and he gasped for air.

Something was dripping down his face all the way down to his chin.

“Illumi, you’re bleeding from your nose again.”

Illumi blinked once more and found himself looking at Kalluto who cowered on his bed right next to him.  
“Kalluto…” His head hurt and the memories of his dream began to fade.

“Here.” Kalluto handed him a tissue and calmly watched as his older brother wiped away the blood.

It took him a while to fully wake up, but finally Illumi could completely grasp the situation again. “Thank you. Did I wake you up, or why else are you in my room in the middle of the night?” he asked.

Kalluto bit his lip and sat down in a more comfortable position until he looked back up at his brother again. “I heard you scream. I thought it was weird, since you never… well scream, so I decided to look whether you were alright or not.” he replied calmly, and then whispered much more quietly “Did you have a nightmare?” and looked at Illumi curiously.

“I’m not sure. But if I managed to wake you, then I suppose I had one. Not that I remember it anyway.” He answered. Perhaps he should have remembered it.

Whatever he kept dreaming about, it was something that had happened to him in the past. And Whatever had happened to him was the reason his powers were acting up lately. It now occurred to him, that maybe he was not supposed to remember it. Each time he had that dream or tried to remember the images, his nose began to bleed and his head started to hurt. He had been trained to be immune to pain, but each time the headaches came, he felt as if his skull was about to break. It was unbearable, and yet it was persistent and made no signs to disappear again.

Kalluto played around with a strand of his hair. “Hm I see. But aren’t you worried at all?”

“Why should I be?”

The little one shrugged. “Before you woke up, you looked as if you were in a lot of pain…” he replied quietly, but the tone of his voice was much more serious than before. “When will you tell mother and father about it?”

“That I had nightmares?” Illumi asked and almost laughed, but remembered that he was at home after all and there were other people who were asleep.

Kalluto shook his head. “Not that. I meant the pain, the bleeding… and that you can’t use your abilities sometimes.”

Illumi raised an eyebrow. “I don’t remember telling you about my temporary loss of powers. Kalluto, have you been scanning my thoughts again?”

Kalluto turned away. “Maybe I have. Why does it matter anyway?” he said, but could not withstand the expectant look his older brother gave him.  
“Fine. I took a peek into your thoughts a while ago. But only because I was worried about you.” He made a pause, fumbling around on a lose button on his pajama sleeve. “I don’t want you to be in pain.” He muttered and pouted slightly.

Illumi could not help himself other than giving Kalluto a hug, which was immediately returned. Although Kalluto wasn’t the most talkative one of his siblings, he was still quite affectionate.

“You really don’t have to worry about me, Kalluto. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you promise? Please don’t end up getting yourself hurt.”

“I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Illumi sighed. He had made a promise to Kalluto to do something about his problems. But even though he was willing to look for help, he had no idea where to begin.

It would have to wait until today’s mission was over anyway. He could have cursed the Spiders for returning to Yorkshin, but it wouldn’t change anything about the fact that they were there and continued to kill and steal from people.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Killua sprinting through the lobby, shortly followed by his team partner whose name Illumi had forgotten already.

“We’re not too late, are we?” Killua asked after he had finally stopped running.

Gon caught up with him and blew out some air before he answered “I don’t think so… This time we’ll surely make our first appearance! “

 _First appearance?_ As much as he granted the two of them to make their debut - he could not allow Killua to fight against the Spiders on their first day. They were still too unexperienced, not to speak of the fact that the spiders were on a whole other level. If their contractors would actually let the two of them fight tonight, it would be a suicide mission.

Killua would not be harmed as long as Illumi was around to prevent it.

“What do you think you’re doing here, Killu?”

“Big bro…” Killua swung around. “Well, we’re here to do our job, to carry out our mission.”

“Do you even know what the mission is?” Illumi asked and tried to resist the urge to get angry. As dearly as he loved his brother, he was still way too careless.

“…Stop some criminals, what else should it be? Now if you would excuse us, we have to find our manager-“

Before Killua could run past Illumi, he caught him and lifted him up that he was unable to dash away.

“Illumi, what are you doing? Let me down!”

“Listen closely now, Killu. I will not repeat myself. The Spiders decided to go on a killing spree in the city and I will not let you run off into your own death tonight. You and Gon will stay here and leave them to the rest of us.”

Gon pouted. “But Illumi, we have to make our first appearance some time too!”

The stern look he received from the man gave Gon goosebumps and he decided to not speak up against him again.

“Gon…” Who would have thought that he would remember the kid’s name after all – “I feel you do not understand the situation. The Spiders are all experienced and homicidal ability users who don’t care about who they take out. Even if it is a kid that stands in their way, they would kill it without second thought.”

Gon looked to the floor and Killua stopped persisting. “I see…”

Illumi let his brother down again. “I’m glad you can be reasoned with.”

“If they are so strong…” Gon began to speak, “Then wouldn’t it be best to kill them? If you only arrest them, they won’t stop.”

Illumi shook his head. “We don’t kill. It makes a bad example, killing won’t solve anything.”

He remembered the bright lights and a voice echoed through his head. _“Kid, I understand you enjoy using your powers to play with people, maybe even kill them in the process. But killing won’t solve anything.”_

 _Why would he enjoy killing?_ …

A light beeping sound shrilled through his ears and his head began to ache again.

“Illumi?” Killua asked, worriedly observing his older brother. “Do you feel alright?”

“Huh?” Illumi blinked and quickly put on a neutral expression. “Why shouldn’t I? I’m fine.”

“You just made a weird face. But if you say you feel fine, then I’ll trust you.” Killua said and sighed. “No debut for us again today.”

Gon pouted slightly, but he knew Killua’s brother was right. From what he had heard about the Spiders, neither he nor Killua were strong enough to face them yet. “There’ll always be tomorrow. Come on, let’s go.”

Killua waved at Illumi before he left with Gon while Illumi himself decided to head out to meet with Hisoka – who apparently did not feel it was needed that they met up before the mission.

 

* * *

 

As expected, Hisoka waited for Illumi close to the closed-off area that was guarded by the public security forces.

“There you are. I was about to assume you would not show your pretty face at all today.” Hisoka smirked behind his mask.

That remark alone was enough to annoy Illumi already. His headache was already bugging him, but if Hisoka kept up this attitude, he would be turned into an icicle.

“What gave you that idea? I still have business left with the boss of the Spiders after all.”

“Oh, Is that so? Then we should not keep him waiting.”

He stepped closer to Illumi and placed his hand under the man’s chin while gently placing his other arm around his waist. “We should not keep our producers waiting either. Why don’t we give them a little show today?” He asked playfully.

Illumi had to admit he had not expected Hisoka to approach him so straightforward or even touch him in inappropriate ways just like this. What he also had to admit was that it did in fact feel quite… nice. He could feel his heart speeding up and pushed Hisoka away, whose lips crossed a pleased smile.

“Fine. As long as you keep your hands to yourself.” Illumi replied, sounding more tense than he had intended to.

“If that is what you wish, then I will try to contain myself.” Hisoka replied jokingly.

While Hisoka leapt away using his bungee gum, it took Illumi longer to activate his powers. The headaches would not go away and for the first time in his life he felt actually drained. It wouldn’t be good to carry out this mission in his current condition, but he could not just call in sick and leave.

Something told him he would regret his decision later, but he had other things to worry about and followed Hisoka into the closed-off area to look for the Spiders.

 

* * *

 

Chrollo observed the golden statue in front of him while Machi bound up the security guards with her threads.

“Now keep quiet if you want to stay alive.” She threatened as she pulled on the threads to make sure the guards would not be able to break free. The glass dome above them was completely shattered after Franklin had decided to shoot down the helicopters on it, but it gave her a better view of the buildings around the embassy of the Republic of Padokea.

Before they had entered, she had not expected the ambassador’s office to contain such a vast amount of valuables.

She felt two presences approach the embassy from the West and swung around to Chrollo.

“Chief, we’re getting visitors.”

Chrollo sighed and turned around to her. “A shame Shizuku has not made it here yet with Feitan and Shalnark…” Moving the statue away from the embassy while two ability users were about to fight them was near impossible – if they were strong enough to keep up with the Spiders.

But as he felt the presences as well, a smile crossed his face. “Machi, the ice ability user is mine. Be so kind and distract the other one. Try to get him as far as possible.”

“As you say, Chief.”

If he could beat Frostbite while Crimson Curse was not around he could not only make sure the valuables of the embassy would make it into safety, he could also finally kill Frostbite. It would be less exciting with him around, but it would make things a lot easier for the troupe.

He could hear Machi sigh when she finally spotted Crimson and Frostbite – though her sigh was due to the sight of Crimson.

“Don’t tell me I have to fight against him. He’s so annoying – it’s as if he is constantly hitting on me whenever we meet.” She said quietly, clearly annoyed, but she contained herself in front of Chrollo.

Chrollo however laughed gently and replied “I’m sure you’ll be able to handle him. “

“That idiot won't know what hit him.” Machi answered and dashed forward to face off against Crimson before both he and Frostbite could reach the broken dome of the embassy.

Chrollo waited patiently until the two heroes had split up and Frostbite stood on the other side of the dome, his glowing eyes piercing him with their cold gaze.

“It seems you can’t go two weeks without causing trouble.”

Chrollo laughed and rose from the table he had been sitting on and advanced slowly towards Frostbite. “What can I say, I like to have fun.”

“Are you telling me killing people, burning down buildings and stealing is fun?”

“It sure is, you should try it too sometimes. You might even enjoy it.”

Illumi would have loved to reply to that, but a stinging pain went through his head before he got to open his mouth. He gently rubbed his temples with his left hand, while he gathered enough energy for a health damaging attack in his right hand.

Chrollo thought about drawing his knife, but since this fight would be a serious one, he decided to use his powers for once. If the hero across the room was to die tonight, he would at least give him the honor of using half of his powers.

While Frostbite’s attack struck him at his arm, he managed to open his book to activate a power he had not tried out yet. He always adapted to new powers within minutes and it would give Frostbite a period of grace before Chrollo would get serious.

Although it was a mental-based power, it allowed him to pick up and toss around everything he wished with solely the power of his mind. Before the previous user had died by his hands, Chrollo had found out that the ability could be divided into “Force” which was the throwing part and “Drain” which let him drain the life forces or abilities of his opponents. “Drain” would come in handy before he killed Frostbite. After all, it would be a shame not to include his element-based ice ability into the book where he kept all the abilities he had stolen so far.

Perhaps he should not have underestimated Frostbite. Although Chrollo could sense he was not using his full abilities, holding himself up against the hero was not as easy as he had imagined. He actually had his difficulties to counter the incoming blasts and sharp ice needles that shot towards him.

Perhaps he would have had to withdraw from this fight as well, if things had not changed all of a sudden.

Illumi could feel his pulse up to his head, which wasn’t exactly a good sign. The boss of the spiders did not pose a threat to him, although he used barely half of his powers and he felt as if his skull was about to burst.

Then suddenly he tasted something metallic dripping down his lips. He gently felt where the drops were coming from and carefully placed his fingers in the area above his lips. When he gazed at his fingers, they were dripping with scarlet red and before he knew it, a flood of blood dropped to the floor.

_No…not now._

He just had the worst luck.

Illumi felt lightheaded and his legs grew unsteady. If his assumption was correct he had only minutes before he would pass out and his powers would deactivate soon afterwards. If that happened in front of the boss of the Spiders, he would find out his true identity and Illumi’s life would be over.

The boss of the spiders raised an eyebrow. “You don’t look so good.”

Illumi gritted his teeth as he was struck by another stinging headache. “You don’t say.” He wanted to step forward and this time strike him with a lethal attack, but he knew the slightest movement could be enough for him to lose his balance.

_Don’t fight if you can’t win._

He could hear his own words echoing through his head, but he could not simply withdraw either. He saw the bright floodlights in front of his inner eye again and everything in front of his eyes faded into white for a moment before he dropped to his knees.

“ _I'm screwed._ ”

Chrollo’s eyes grew wider when he saw one of his most respected enemies fall onto his knees.  
“Pitiful. But don’t think I’ll go easy on you, you won’t get any mercy from me.” He said and slowly approached Frostbite.

The blue glow of the hero’s eyes flickered behind his mask and faded into violet while he held his head.

 _He must be in terrible pain._ But what Chrollo did not understand was the strange energy that came from Frostbite. The energy of his ice manipulation was a cold and tranquil aura, but it was disturbed by a much warmer, more impulsive source of power that seemed to come from him as well. But it was as if that other power was not flowing, it felt far away and but was growing stronger.

“Don’t tell me…” Chrollo bowed down to look into the hero’s blue glowing eyes that now contained red fragments. What he saw was anger, directed at him, but predominantly he saw pain. “… you are one of these freaks born with two abilities.” Two abilities, but the second power seemed to be blocked somehow. But exactly this blockade was what inflicted the damage on the man as it was somehow trying to break loose.

 

* * *

 

It had been a desperate and badly thought-out action. But Illumi had enough trouble keeping his thoughts together and not pass out, that he had not been able to spare a second thought when he struck the boss of the Spiders with a large, sharp ice spear.

His opponent had obviously not expected another attack and flinched back. He gritted his teeth. “I already pitied you enough to let you go for today. But now I’m going to end you.”

Chrollo grabbed his opponent’s body with his telekinetic powers and used them to hurl Frostbite into the thick remaining part of the wall.

A normal human would have suffered several fractures, if not immediate death from a broken neck, but as he had expected, his opponent was still alive and breathing.

Blood dripped from his head, nose and shot from his mouth when he coughed. “Curse you.”  
The cold aura grew weaker and completely disappeared when finally the man’s eyes fell shut.

Chrollo coldly gazed at the unconscious body in front of him and he felt disappointed when he finally drew his knife. “I wish you would have stayed alive until your final moment, but it doesn’t matter now.” He placed his free hand on the bleeding wound, where the ice spear had struck him. It wasn’t life threatening, but just the thought that someone had managed to strike him in a moment of absence drove him mad.

He could have just ended the hero. But curiosity drove him to at least take a look under the mask, to remember the face of the man he would kill. Once he was dead, Frostbite’s real identity would not matter anymore.

He ripped off the mask. “Let’s see if you really were as pretty as you were with your powers activated-“

Before he could finish his sentence he froze.

“No way.”

He dropped his weapon and kneeled down next to the body of the man he had considered his enemy only seconds ago.

Although his hair was still white from his activated powers, without his mask it was more than obvious who lay before him.  
It could not be true. Chrollo leaned forward to check the man’s eye color and his presumption turned out to be correct.

“Illumi…”

Suddenly it struck him. The voice, the way he had moved and his features – of course it had been Illumi the entire time. The man he had always considered a good friend, someone he would have trusted – perhaps even with his life- For a while he did not know how to proceed. Killing him was certainly not an option anymore.

Before Chrollo could do anything he had not thought out well enough, he decided to withdraw. He quickly let his book disappear and took out his phone.

“Feitan, it’s off. We’re heading back.”

“Huh? But did you not tell us to meet at the rendezvous point to proceed farther into the city?”

“I said we’re heading back.”

He felt another presence come closer, probably Crimson who had defeated Machi – that, or what was more likely, she had gotten too annoyed with him and had left. But he had no interest in fighting once more today and made is move to leave. Chrollo was in such a hurry that he took the white mask with him without noticing it. After today’s fight he needed some time alone to think.

 

* * *

 

When Hisoka entered the embassy, the eerie silence was the first thing that triggered his caution. Something was not right. Either Illumi had been able to beat the boss of the Spiders or… No, it was impossible for him to lose. Illumi was too skilled and cautious to be defeated in such a short time.

As he dashed up the stairs to the broken glass dome it suddenly occurred to him that he felt no presence around but his own, which was odd. He should have been able to at least feel another ability user, whether it had been Illumi or the boss of the Spiders, but it was as if he was alone.

“That can’t be right.” Unease spread through his body and he sped up his pace. The possibility of Illumi having left after the fight crossed his mind as well. But it was unlike his friend to just disappear and leave him behind to follow.

He had finally made it to the office under the broken glass dome. A bomb could have gone off just as well, by the looks of what was left of the hall. The walls were crackling, furniture broken and documents scattered everywhere. He was alone.

At least it appeared as if he was, but there was something in the air. The energy of an ability user soared through the air as if it had fumed out of someone’s body. It didn’t feel anything close to Illumi’s energy however; this one was restlessly sparkling with great pressure as its remains began to fade in the air.

The other thing that caught his attention was the scent of blood, not yet heavy but clearly there. It could not possibly be Illumi’s blood though; he could not get injured that badly with his suit –

“Illumi?”

Not even the most highly developed suit as protection was of any use when someone bled from their nose… and suffered from internal bleedings after being smashed against a wall.

Hisoka knelt down next to Illumi and gently wiped the almost dried blood from his lips. The white shimmering hair began to fade back into black from the roots until the last strand of hair had back its ebony color.

It was a complete mystery to Hisoka what exactly could have caused the fight to end like this. In all their years of fighting, Illumi had suffered merely scratches, sometimes fractures, but he had never bled, let alone passed out. It simply did not fit his image to lose a fight and end up in such a pitiful state.

“Hey, can you hear me? Illumi, come on. Wake up.”

When Illumi did not even flinch after Hisoka had pinched his cheek, he decided to head for the hospital. But he could not barge into the hospital while still wearing his suit, let alone drag Illumi there who was still wearing his suit as well, but without his mask and the white hair it would give away his true identity.

Heading back to the first league headquarter was not an option either. It would completely ruin Illumi’s reputation and career if anyone found out he had been beaten to the point of losing consciousness.

Hisoka sighed. “You’ll have to forgive me for this later, but we need you to get changed before I can take you to ER.”

 

* * *

 

_“What were you thinking when you killed these people, son?” Stern, piercing eyes stared into his own._

_“I don’t know. I could read all their thoughts and they kept doing what I told them to do. It was fun.” The reply reflected childish ignorance and innocence which shimmered in the careless eyes that gazed back into the piercing blue eyes of the man._

_“Killing people is not fun, Illumi. What you did was horrible.”_

_The careless look disappeared and tears dripped down the child’s cheeks. “Horrible?”_

_“Taking someone’s life means they’ll never come back. They’re gone forever. Just think of their families who will be heartbroken after losing them.”_

_“And they won’t come back because I played with them? But you and mother said once I could use my abilities, I would be allowed to practice with them.” The few teardrops soon turned into a waterfall._

_The father sighed and knelt down. “I know you meant no harm. But playing around with snow and ice is something different than playing with people’s minds. It’s dangerous to even have such a power.”_

_“I don’t want a dangerous power!” Wiping away the tears did not help, since once they were gone, new ones began to drip down the little boy’s cheeks. “I don’t want it, if it hurts people. I don’t want to be a monster.”_

_“I never said you were a monster… But if you want it gone, we’ll go visit a nice man who can help you. How does that sound?”_

_…_

 

* * *

 

“I still can’t believe what happened… and really saw nothing?” Killua asked, impatiently swinging his legs while he sat on the chair next to the hospital bed. He really could not believe that his brother had actually been beaten. Through all the years Illumi had always seemed somewhat invincible to him.

After he and Gon had spent about two hours in the hospital already, Crimson, who had called him via the call bracelet, had finally introduced himself as Hisoka – though his name did not exactly fit his image.

The man leaned back on the chair on the other side of the bed and checked his nails before he replied. “I did not see a thing, little fruit. Trust me, I was almost as surprised as you.” He glanced over to Illumi. “But your brother is always full of surprises.” He said with a smile, although deep down he worried slightly about what exactly had caused the dead loss. Something had been messing with his abilities, but he felt as if the Boss of the Spiders had nothing to do with that.

Killua frowned and crossed his arms. “He better wake up soon, or he’ll regret it.”

Gon gently patted Killua’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.” He said, less cheerful than he wanted to, but Killua did not seem to be in the mood to be cheered up – behind the anger, there was something close to concern shimmering in his eyes.

“Are you not going to contact your parents?”

Killua looked back up at Hisoka and waved it off. “No way. My mother almost lost it when I broke my arm, I doubt she would be able to handle the news that her beloved oldest son is lying in the hospital – let alone the circumstances you mentioned. She could not bear it.” But something told Killua that, while their mother would lose her mind, their father could have some answers.

It was merely his intuition, but usually his father knew more than his mother. Likely because he knew as well, that it was always best not to give her a reason to worry.  
He sighed and rose to his feet. “…but I guess you’re right, I should tell them.”

“I’ll wait here. Once something happens, I’ll come and tell you right away.” Gon said as Killua left the room and he replied with a nod.  
“Thank you.”

Phoning his father did not take long – if it had been his mother, she would have interrogated him until she had all the information gathered she wanted. Telling his father what happened and where he was now seemed to be enough for him to know.

Before he could say his goodbyes, Gon ran up to him yelling his name.

It was only within short time that Killua was dragged back to the hospital room, where Illumi now sat straight in his bed. He seemed to be a lot better – at least that was what Killua assumed before he saw the bloodshot eyes of his brother. The color of his eyes had always been a deep and dark red, but something seemed different about them.

“Illumi, what happened?” Killua finally asked.

His brother shrugged. “I don’t remember… at least not exactly. The last thing I know is that I was at the embassy and the boss of the Spiders was there too.”

Hisoka hummed lightly before he began to speak. “That doesn’t sound as if you remember a lot.” He made a pause. “Do you recall anything weird happening to you… ability-wise?”

Illumi threw back his hair which kept falling into his face and cringed at the neck pain that struck him when he moved his head. He muttered something that sounded like a cussword, before he replied “I’m not sure. I dreamed of something…. Hold still for a moment, I want to try something.”

He reached out his arm to gently place his finger on Hisoka’s forehead who gave the man a questioning look. “Wait, what do you want to try?”

“This.”

Killua felt an unfamiliar energy flowing through his brother’s arm, and before he knew what happened, Hisoka raised his arm and slapped himself, before he seemed to regain consciousness.

“Ow! What… what was that? What happened?”

Gon’s eyes widened with surprise. “Hisoka, did you just slap yourself or did Illumi do that?”

Killua sighed and leaned over to Gon. “My brother did that.”

Hisoka rubbed his cheek and furrowed slightly. “First of all, what did you just do? Second of all, what was that even for?”

“Mind control… I think. That slap was well deserved, however. If you touch me in such an inappropriate way as this morning ever again, I will think of something much worse to punish you with.” Illumi said.

“Mind control?” Killua was more than confused, but his brother ignored his question while Hisoka argued “Don’t give me that, you enjoyed it.” Despite his still aching cheek, he smirked. “You blushed and your heart beat faster – just admit it, you adore me.”

“In your dreams. It was merely unexpected, don’t flatter yourself.”

Hisoka shrugged and did not seem to accept this as Illumi’s final statement, but he did not feel like arguing. “If you say so.”

Killua grabbed Illumi’s wrist. He was tired of his brother ignoring him. “What do you mean, you suddenly possess mind control? That’s impossible. You were born as an element-based ability user, how come you’re suddenly able to use a mental-based power.”

Behind them the door had creaked open and Kalluto entered the hospital room, shortly followed by their father.  
“Illumi, we need to talk.”

For the first time in his life, Killua saw his brother pull a face as if he was incredibly uncomfortable.

Hisoka cleared his throat and rose from the chair. “I’ll head home then. Talk to you later.”

Gon rubbed the back of his head and gave Killua an unsure look. “Maybe I should leave too… I’ll wait outside.”

Killua wanted to protest, but the stern piercing glance from his father was enough to tell him that this would be something that should stay in the family.

After both Gon and Hisoka had left, the room was filled with such a suspense Killua had never felt between his brother and his father.

Silva sighed and sat down next to the bed. Illumi stared at the wall across the room, clearly tensed, while Kalluto quietly sat down next to Killua. His youngest brother too seemed somewhat uncomfortable with all the tension.

“Mind control, huh?”

Illumi did not even look at their father when he replied, which was rather unusual for him since this was a question of respect. “I remember now.”

“Oh, do you? What do you remember?” Silva asked, but did not seem to be interested in an actual answer.

Killua flinched at the look Illumi shot at their father and Kalluto firmly grasped a piece of cloth from his gown.

“I remembered the day you took me with you to get rid of my abilities, although I didn’t want it and it hurt like hell.”

Silva sighed once more, this time a little longer. “I might have made a mistake there, son. But I had my reasons to seal your ability away. If it had been possible back then, I would have let it be erased completely.”

“For what reason? What were you expecting, that I use them to become some kind of serial killer?”

“You showed more than enough signs that your abilities might lead you down the wrong path. I won’t apologize for anything if that’s what you want. I merely did it to protect people from you – and most importantly to protect you from yourself.”

Although Killua could still feel the anger boiling inside his brother, he carefully asked “Dad, can people really be born with two abilities?”

“It is not common, but it happens. Some ability users might even consider it a gift from the heavens themselves.”

“Then why did you let that scientist block my ability?” Illumi asked, now in a much calmer tone.

“If you stop giving me such an evil look, I might tell you.” Silva replied and only earned an annoyed groan from his oldest son, but then he began to explain.

“It’s not that I did not trust you completely. You see, back when your mother and I still served as heroes, the department of social security created a device with the ability to copy any kind of ability from its user. As one might expect, it was stolen and fell into the wrong hands. Most of the devices have been retrieved, but more than enough are still missing. This is where your powers become a problem.”

“Since someone might copy it and use it for evil?”

“That was exactly what I had in mind when I decided to block your ability. It was meant to last forever, but back then the method was not fully developed yet.” Their father said.

“The side effects could have killed Illumi, father.” Kalluto suddenly spoke up and did not avert his gaze after his interjection, but calmly looked at their father while his violet eyes shimmered with something almost close to irritation.

Silva was just as surprised as Killua when Kalluto had spoken, but then asked what both Illumi and Killua had wondered about this exact moment as well.  
“What makes you think that?”

“I felt it. If the lock had not sprung open today, the pressure that had been building up could have killed him… I was already worried when I saw the blood dripping from Illumi’s nose. But if it had gotten worse, he could have suffered severe brain damage and died.” Kalluto replied.

“Looks like I dodged a bullet there.” Illumi said, but was cut off by Kalluto.

“Don’t joke about this… you broke your promise.” He said. “You promised you would get help before it got worse, but instead of actually looking for help you still carried out your mission despite your worsening condition.”

Killua was surprised how much emotion his brother showed today. Illumi actually seemed to feel bad, judging the way he looked at Kalluto.

“I’m sorry… truly.” He said quietly. “I don’t know what exactly was going through my mind when I choose to head out.”

“Probably not a lot.” Silva noted and gave his son a soft punch against his shoulder. “Your mother and I did not raise you to become such a stubborn and self-destructive person. Get it together.”  


Although the punch wasn’t meant to hurt, Illumi flinched, since his father had hit a large bruise, and rubbed his shoulder. “Ouch… you’re stubborn yourself though.”

The man laughed. “Perhaps it’s in the family.” But his expression became more serious within seconds. “Illumi, the fact that you possess two abilities has to remain a secret, understood? There are more than enough people who would gladly experiment with ability users who possess two powers, or lock them up - Besides the risk that someone might want to copy your power.”

Illumi rolled his eyes. “I get it, don’t tell anyone about my powers. I’m not a child, father.”

Silva rose from his chair and gave Illumi a pat on the shoulder. “You’re my child – so please try and stop giving me so much to worry about. Get some rest.”

After Kalluto and their father went home, Killua was left alone in the room with Illumi. There were some things he wanted to ask, but he was unsure whether he even wanted to hear the answers. He decided to leave his brother for today as well. He could still ask him some things when he felt better.

 

* * *

 

For the first time in weeks, he had been able to sleep peacefully and without any dreaming. He would have preferred to rest a little longer, but his eyes shot open when he felt another presence entering his room. It could be none of the nurses; their auras were less powerful and not nearly as imperative. The presence he felt was similar to the one of the boss of the Spiders.

But who stood right across the room was Chrollo. “Sorry to disturb you, I heard about your accident from Hisoka.”

Illumi sat up in the bed. “It’s fine." He did not like the way Chrollo pronounced the word ‘accident’ in such a sarcastic tone. It wasn’t exactly like him to use sarcasm at all.

“Well, if it’s fine, then I can discuss some things with you.” Chrollo walked over to the bed and let himself gently fall onto the chair. “Are you in pain?” he asked.

“Not exactly.”

“Good… that’s good to hear. I was worried about you already. You see, I assumed you would have suffered much worse injuries.”

Illumi glanced over to his friend, although he seemed more than a stranger to him right now. Something about him felt different. For the first time since they had met, Chrollo seemed irritated. He wasn’t irritated with him, but with something that must have happened between the two of them earlier.

Before he could reply, Chrollo placed something in Illumi’s hands. “I forgot to give it back to you earlier.”

The dim light in the room and his minor head injuries made it difficult for Illumi to process what exactly Chrollo had handed him. It was white, felt somewhat leathery.

“That’s a mask." He muttered.  "My mask. How did you get it?”

Then it finally dawned to him. “You’re _him_.”

Chrollo remained silent for a while, before he got up from his chair whereat his aura became stronger. When Illumi created a ball of his channeled energy in his hand, the man’s stern expression suddenly disappeared and he took a step back, raising his hands.

“Wait! I’m not here to fight you.” He made a pause and waited until Illumi let the ball of energy decay. “I mean, how could I? You’re my friend. Even if you’re Frostbite, whom I despised – don’t take it personally.”

Illumi sighed. “Then what do you want to discuss?”

“I wanted to discuss merely some things. You see, that friend turned out to be a hero, puts me in quite the difficult position. As their leader, I can’t just stop the troupe from enjoying themselves. But if we both keep doing what we did until now, we will continue to face each other in battle.”

“And that is a problem for you? I mean, it is for me – but if you really are the boss of the Spiders, that’s a surprising turn.” Illumi said, whereat a more or less serious smile crossed Chrollo’s lips.

“Heartwarming that you still let me continue our conversation after finding out about my little secret. I don’t care about a lot of people, but I’ve known you long enough to not desire to put you in pain.”

“The next time would be different, trust me. Today…” It seemed like a bad idea to let anything concerning his other ability slip through in front of Chrollo. “Today just wasn’t my day.”

Chrollo sat down on the window sill and placed his chin in his hand. “Ah, now I remember what I’ve been meaning to ask what was wrong with you today. Don’t play stupid on me; I felt that other energy you were giving off clearly back then.”

“It’s not that important, all you need to know is that you saved me quite the trouble actually.”

“By breaking your bones?”

“So it seems.”

Chrollo did not seem exactly pleased with the answer, but he did not dig in any further.

“Fine then. You’re welcome I guess.” He got up from the window sill.  “Although I can’t promise that my fellow Spiders will cease to enjoy themselves, I think I will take a break for a while.”  
He made a move to leave and walked over to the door. Before he left, he turned around once more. “Perhaps you should take a break as well, Illumi. You still don’t look so good.”

Illumi had not gotten the chance to look in a mirror since he had woken up in the hospital, but he probably really did not look exactly healthy. He sure did not feel good. Despite his aching body, he felt odd. He felt more like himself, if that was even possible. He did feel more than he had within the past years. It was hard to tell what exactly had changed, but while he felt more whole, Illumi suddenly felt more vulnerable after his second ability and his memories connected to it had returned.

But most of all, he felt tired. There was still more than enough time worry about how all this would continue tomorrow.

 


	6. The Puppeteer

“Your brother really wants to carry on with his job? Wasn’t he just released from the hospital a week ago?”

Killua could not look up to Gon, since he was busy tying his shoes. But he knew Gon was staring at him, excitedly awaiting an answer while he could not bring himself to sit still on the bench of their private dressing room. Being first league heroes sure had its advantages. It had a certain celebrity feeling to it.

“I know my brother doesn’t look like the stubborn kind, but he sure is. He doesn’t even listen to our parents anymore, if what they want gets in his way. But that’s just Illumi, I guess… if he ends up getting himself hurt, at least there is no one else to blame but my brother himself.”

“Are you worried about him? After everything that has happened with his powers?” Gon asked.

Was he worried? Killua was not sure. He had never been in the position to worry about his oldest brother; it had always been the other way around anyway. But perhaps he should worry about him. Two abilities were harder to control than just one. But whatever had caused the second power to break the seal, it had drained a lot of energy from Illumi and there were still times when he could not use his abilities - at least from what he had heard from Alluka who had heard it from Kalluto.

Although his youngest brother was not the most talkative person, he sure could read people like open books. At least someone who could tell what was really going on with Illumi.

“I don’t know.” He replied and leaned back on his seat. “But no matter what kind of things went down, my brother was always alright in the end. He has a talent for keeping himself out of trouble… at least he usually does.”

“If you say so.” Gon said quietly, but he still did not seem pleased.

Killua rose to his feet. “Stop worrying. Who cares about my selfish brother anyway, today we’ll finally make our debut!”

Gon’s face lit up within seconds and he grinned brightly. “Ah, I almost forgot! I can’t wait to show off the new attack I’ve been working on!”

“A new attack? How come I don’t know about that yet?” Killua asked while they walked out of the room to head to the entry hall which was also where they would meet up with their contractors.

Gon’s smile grew wider and he replied “I wanted to surprise you too. Come on, let’s hurry and I can show it to you!” before he grabbed Killua’s hand and sprinted down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to start working again, just one week after leaving the hospital?” Hisoka asked and poked Illumi’s cheek, who gently slapped the man’s hand away.

“I am perfectly fine. Tell me one reason I should not work again. It’s only the night shift after all.”

“Well… I can’t think of any, but I feel as if today is not a good day to start heading out on missions again.” Hisoka replied, but Illumi waved it off.

“Huh, I don’t see what’s wrong with it. What should be so special about tonight, it’ll probably the same as always.” Illumi said and turned on the TV.

Hisoka shrugged. “If you think so… but if I’m right in the end, I get to order you around for a day.”

Illumi laughed, although it was obvious to Hisoka that he was being sarcastic. “Ha! As if I would let you order me around… If I am actually wrong, you’ll get to ask me one favor – nothing more.”

“Just one?” The disappointment in Hisoka’s voice was impossible not to hear. “Fine… better than nothing. The knowledge alone that you were wrong and I was right is enough anyway.”

“Hush, I don’t want to miss Killu’s great moment.”

Although Hisoka was not pleased with being shushed at, he sat down on the couch next to Illumi. If they had not known each other for years, Hisoka would have been offended, but that was just the way Illumi was and had always been. It was no use starting a fight with him over such small things. Besides, after all this time Hisoka could not even bring himself to actually get angry at Illumi, it was physically impossible for him.

“Are the little fruits finally making their first appearance on TV?” he asked after a while.

“That’s what Killua told me earlier.”

Hisoka laughed slightly. “It would be disappointing if they had to delay it once more.” He said and glanced over to Illumi.

“Don’t look at me. It wasn’t my fault the Spiders chose that day to come to Yorkshin.” Illumi replied, but fell silent. In retrospect his loss against the boss of the Spiders, who had then turned out to be one of the few people he had considered a friend, had been quite a damage to his pride. Sure, the circumstances had made it impossible for him to beat the man, but Illumi had never lost a fight before.

Hisoka observed the other who seemed to be brooding over something. That ‘something’ that was likely the last encounter with the Spiders. It would probably take him some more time to get over it.

 

* * *

 

Killua could feel his pulse pumping from excitement when he dashed down the avenue of the shopping district to chase after a two thieves who tried to escape from the crime scene. He could hear the television commentator’s reports over his call bracelet, but he was too busy to actually listen to what the lady had to say.

The modified car the thieves used to escape would have been too fast to catch for someone with average running speed, but it was a piece of cake for Killua once he activated his powers.

Once he was close enough to the getaway car, an aimed lightning strike was all it took for the engine to conk out.

Killua felt like petting himself on the shoulder, but stayed focused on his targets that climbed out of the car. “I guess next time you’ll have to be a little faster.” He was about to knock them out with another lightning strike, when he heard Gon’s voice from above.

“Wait for me!” Gon had leaped off the roof on the mall center close by and landed across Killua, on the other side of the car. “Let’s do this as a team.”

A grin crossed Killua’s lips and he gave Gon a nod. “Sure. Just try not to destroy the road too bad. The people of Yorkshin don’t need more road works that keep them waiting.”

“Fine, I’ll try. Eat this, you dirty thieves!” Gon channeled almost all of his energy within his first before he delivered the blow that knocked out two of the three thieves and blew away the car.

While the remaining thief tried to escape, Killua sprinted after him and took the loot from the man’s hands before the poor guy was struck by another lightning.

“Let’s see what you tried to take with you.” Killua muttered when he peeked into the bag, but the smell was enough for him to get an idea of what exactly those three had been trying to steal.

“What’s in there?” Gon asked curiously, but Killua closed the bag again and wrinkled his nose.

“Must be some kind of new drugs. These guys can be glad that this is the Yorbian continent… elsewhere they might have ended up with a death penalty.” Killua mumbled, but noticed the commentator again who now seemed to report about their successful mission.

“By the looks of it, our new team of heroes managed to successfully stop those criminals – in such a short time!”

Gon grinned and gave Killua a pat on the shoulder. “Good job, partner!”

Killua blushed slightly, but then remembered the role he had to play. The contractors wanted Thunderstruck to be confident and bold. If that was what they wanted, they should get it. He cleared his throat before he replied “I could not have done it without you.” which was the truth. Killua’s lightning strike alone wouldn’t have been strong enough to stop all of the thieves, but together with Gon it had worked out perfect.

“You can always count on me! - though next time I’ll hurry up a bit more.” Gon laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

Killua almost flinched when the voice of the reporter rang through the call bracelet. “What a beautiful dynamic! I dare say, we can expect much greater appearances from these two in the future!”

After the public security forces had taken both the criminals and the bag filled with the drugs, Gon and Killua could finally head back to the first league headquarter where they were welcomed by their sponsors and contractors.

Killua was still busy shaking hands with their future manager, when suddenly Gon yelled “Aunt Mito!” and ran towards a lady Killua had never met before.

Gon had often told him about his aunt who had raised him since his father had gone off to work for different leagues. But Killua was surprised how young she was.

He shuffled over to Gon who still tightly hugged his aunt who laughed lightly and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“Gon, you did a great job today! Both me and grandma were really impressed!” Mito said and Gon looked up to her with big puppy eyes.

“Did grandma watch too?” He suddenly let go off his aunt and pulled Killua closer to them. “I couldn’t have done it without Killua though!”

Aunt Mito gave Killua a warm smile and said “Ah, so you are Killua. Gon told me quite a lot about you already.” while Killua awkwardly shook her hand with his cheeks turning red.

“I hope he left out the embarrassing things…” he muttered, but Mito laughed gently and waved it off.

“Don’t worry, I have heard nothing but good things about you.”

Gon grinned and wrapped an arm around Killua. “He’s the best friend one could ask for!”

Killua could feel his blood pumping through his head and gently pushed Gon’s arm away. “Don’t say embarrassing things like that!”

“Huh, but it’s the truth!” Gon protested, while Killua looked to the side with a pout.

Gon sure knew how to make him feel embarrassed. But on the other hand he could not be happier that Gon actually saw him as his best friend. Killua had felt the same about Gon, but he had been too embarrassed to say it out loud. But Gon’s confirmation was all he could have hoped for.

“So what, you’re my best friend too…” he said after a while, and Gon who had stuck out his tongue smiled again.

“I can’t wait to get back out there and beat up more bad guys with you!” he said cheerfully.

Aunt Mito raised an eyebrow. “I hope you mean after the two of you got a good night’s rest. I’m delighted to see you are so high-spirited about doing your job as heroes, but don’t overdo it. You too, Killua. But you seem more cautious than my Gon; please promise me to take care of him while I’m not around.”

“Understood. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get carried away.” Killua replied.

Gon sighed. “But it’s not even that late…”

Killua gave him a soft nudge against the shoulder. “The night shift is assigned to other heroes. Let’s leave it to them and call it a day. Besides, I’m getting hungry.”

Suddenly Gon’s eyes lit up. “Ah, now that you say it – I’m hungry too! I got so excited about our mission, I forgot about it.”

Aunt Mito laughed and shook her head. “My, if both of you are so hungry, why don’t I invite the two of you? That way you can tell me a little more about how the two of you are doing.”

“Fine by me.” Killua said. Although they had earned more than enough money with their second league missions already, being asked to dinner was nice too.

“Sounds great! Aunt Mito, you wouldn’t believe how much I have to tell you.” Gon announced and left together with Mito and Killua to get dinner.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later Illumi arrived in the first league headquarter before Hisoka once again. They had left together, but Hisoka had announced he had something else to do before their night shift started and had left.

It was a mystery to Illumi what took him so long, but it was none of his business anyway as long as the man did not get himself in trouble.

Before he could head into the new dressing room, he came across Bisky who watched the re-run of today’s mission during which Killua and Gon had made their debut.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than the friendship between two young boys.” She sighed and placed her hands on her chest. “These two are truly heartwarming.” She said and turned around to Illumi.

“My, look who’s back. I hope you got to recover. What happened to you anyway?”

Illumi bit his lower lip and decided not to show her that he was extremely annoyed by her being so nosy. “An accident, nothing more.”

“I see. By the way, did you see these two rookies on TV today? They sure have a lot of talent. They might make it to the top 5 one day.” She said with a smile, but Illumi could tell that she was ticked off by the way he had not answered her previous question.

Although he had no interest in engaging into a conversation with her, it would be too rude of him not to reply now.

“I did. They sure are talented.”

Bisky should know him well enough already to understand that he was not interested in small-talk with people he did not know well enough.

Before she could ask him something else, someone suddenly placed their hands on his shoulders.

“Here I am, my dearest Illumi. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long.” Hisoka said jokingly and let go of Illumi’s shoulders.

“I guess I should head out soon. Take care you two; there have been reports of strange energies at night around the city of Yorkshin.” Bisky said before she left.

Illumi could have worried about those reports, but there were always strange energies around Yorkshin since a lot of ability users lived within the city. Bisky should be the one to take care – she always went out alone after all. Not that she couldn’t have held herself up in a fight – she could in fact become quite terrifying when in action.

“Strange reports, huh? You still remember our little bet I hope.” Hisoka noted, and entered the dressing room before Illumi where he continued “If something happens tonight, I’ll get one wish~”

Illumi did not even allow his lips to twitch, but Hisoka just seemed too delighted by the thought of proving him wrong. _Annoying._ _  
_But that side of Hisoka was still more tolerable than people bothering him with annoying questions. Besides, if it wasn’t for him, Illumi would not have anyone else to share his thoughts with.

What connected them was this weird friendship that had grown over the years and that somehow seemed to become imperishable. Maybe it was Illumi’s patience with the man… or it was Hisoka’s fixation about body contact that made their relationship like more than just friendship to others, while it had more than often caused Illumi’s thoughts and emotions to tumble over each other.

It was, in fact, annoying. But over the years Hisoka had always been somehow supporting in his own way and although Illumi would never admit it, he would not want to do without him.

Once they had headed out to their assigned area, the northern Yorkshin outskirts, Illumi soon understood what Bisky had meant with the reports about strange energies.

There were multiple energies spread across the half abandoned part of the town before them, but none of them seemed to belong to an ability user. They did not feel as if they belonged to a living being, but to a lifeless entity.

“Why are they moving?” Illumi muttered while he scanned the area.

Hisoka leaned over Illumi’s shoulder to take a look at the holo-screen created by the call bracelet as well. “I take you noticed what’s weird about them too?”

“I did… we should split up and take a closer look at what exactly we’re dealing with.”

“Are you sure that is what we should do? It’s been a while since the last time you went on a mission.” Hisoka noted.

Illumi shut down the holo-screen and glanced over to Hisoka. “Are you implying I am out of practice?”

Hisoka smirked and walked closer to the edge of the bridge from where they had been scanning the area in front of them. “I would never dare to… take care.” He said before he disappeared into the night, leaving Illumi behind who could only let out a sigh.

As if he would have gotten rusty from a few weeks in the hospital…

Hisoka had went off somewhere to the east. Therefore Illumi decided to head to the opposite direction to investigate the energy which was the closest.

The energy came from an old hospital that had been abandoned for about six years after it had become dilapidated and no one had considered it to be important enough to raise money to renovate it. Illumi remembered this hospital all too well.

Years ago when his mother had been pregnant with Alluka, they had been visiting a friend of their mother when suddenly his sister had decided to be born and his mother had went into labor. Back then the entire northern outskirts had been a showpiece of a neighborhood and the hospital itself was one of the most renowned in the entire region. But those had been different times.

The way the hospital looked now, it was fit for one of those horror movies Killua used to watch all the time.

Illumi entered through a broken window of the second level, since entering through the main entrance would have been too expectable.

Although he made no sound when he entered, there was an echo in the dark hallway connected to the room where he had entered. Illumi had never been afraid of the dark which he now benefited from, but the cold breeze that blew through the broken windows inside the building made him shudder as the icy air touched the skin of his neck. Investigating the other energy that he had felt inside the old mall could have been more comfortable. On the other hand, if he really were to fight it would not matter how much furniture or equipment broke.

It did not take him long to locate the source of the strange energy that oozed from every ventilation shaft and filled the halls. Climbing through those was not exactly part of his job, but it made it easier for him to approach whatever gave off this aura.

Illumi gazed out of the holes of the air vent, before he soundlessly slit through the opening. He came to realize that he had entered one of the surgery rooms. It was probably best not to question why there were splatters of blood on the operating table and spread across the floor.

The energy became stronger than before, but it seemed to come from above...

If he had not looked up in this very same moment, he would now have a knife sticking inside his skull.

Illumi leapt back and finally got a good look at what exactly he was dealing with. For a second the sight in front of him left him speechless.

“Chrollo?” The source of energy came directly from the man he had last seen during his nightly visit at the hospital. Or at least it came from whatever appeared to be Chrollo.

It could not be him under any circumstances, since the energy was not the one of a living being. It wasn’t even close to the man’s aura which he knew well enough by now. Illumi did not like the shimmer of that person’s eyes. They held a bad desire and did not seem to belong to the body of whatever it was that stood in front of him.

Besides, even if Chrollo had turned out to be the boss of the Spiders, he would not act against the agreement they both had come to when they had last met. At least we should not, if he wanted Illumi to consider him a friend after everything that had happened.

There was no doubt that this creature was not what it seemed to be. Then it began to speak.

“Did I leave you speechless? We should keep it that way, dying in silence is more beautiful than in pained screams after all.” Chrollo – no, the thing – replied and leapt forward to attack Illumi once more. This time he reacted faster and was able to dodge the attack with ease while delivering a blow that should have been fatal to the creature’s innards – if it even had any. Whatever his fists hit, it felt unsettlingly hollow inside.

When the creature straightened itself up again, it made a loud creaking sound, before it dashed off again. Before the sharp knife came close enough to Illumi’s skin, he impaled the thing’s head on a large icicle.

Suddenly, after the creature had stopped twitching, its eyes began to glow. After a while the glow faded and small sparks ascended into the air only to disappear.

What was left behind after the glow stopped, was a lifeless body with hollow eyes – and as Illumi stepped closer towards the creature, it appeared to be a doll. A doll, which had been created after the model of Chrollo.

Out of nowhere he heard a step echo behind him when someone grabbed his wrists. Only too late he felt another aura appear close to him when his wrists were chained and he was pinned against a wall.

Before he knew it, the chains were clasped into a hook that was attached to the wall and he was spun around. It was probably the wrong moment to think about what purpose this hook had served back when the hospital had still been in use.

The first thing he noticed about the attacker, were the turquoise eyes that stared directly into his own. Aside from those, the man in front of him had long silver hair and wore piercings in various parts of his face. But he did not look familiar to Illumi at all. They had never met before, and yet this man had been suspiciously prepared for whatever this was supposed to be.

He wanted to activate his powers again, to possibly freeze the man and escape after that. But those chains around his wrists seemed to drain his very life force itself and he came to realize that he had not even the strength to stand upright anymore. By the look of them they were made of prism ore. His father had once explained to him that this very ore was the only way to contain the powers of rouge ability users that were imprisoned.

While Illumi had to give the silver haired man credit for being able to capture him so easily, he could have slapped himself in the face for falling for such a cheap trap. But the man must have suppressed his aura long before both Illumi and Hisoka had even arrived in the outskirts. Otherwise he would not have gone unnoticed.

The man was currently observing the broken doll when he suddenly turned back around to Illumi. “What a coincidence. You are exactly what I have been looking for. Although you destroyed one of my most beloved dolls, I could not be more delighted to see you.”

“And just who are you exactly? I doubt we ever met.” Illumi replied. This man was irritating already.

“Forgive my rudeness. I am known as Omokage the puppet player. But you might as well just address me as Omokage.”

Illumi glanced over to the puppet that looked like Chrollo whose head still was impaled. “So that doll over there was yours?”

“I created it myself, it that is what you mean.” Omokage replied and stepped closer towards Illumi to grab his chin and lift up his head.

“You turned out to be more handsome than I would have expected… How much I would love to create a doll after your model. But sadly, I already have other plans with you.”

Illumi would have loved to bite off the man’s fingers, but in his current position it would have been a foolish idea. He just had to wait for him to let down his guard, then he could try to attack him – if only the man stayed close enough to him.

“What could you possibly want with me?”

Omokage finally let go of Illumi again and turned around. “You see, a little bird told me that you were born with a gift, the possession of two abilities.”

“I have never heard of such a thing. Even if I did, of what use could any of my powers be to you?”

Omokage sighed and swung around to face Illumi again. “While the dolls I create are already quite life-like, they are merely the copy of a human. But the right power would allow me to make my dolls even more realistic; with the right power I could turn actual living and breathing humans into dolls. They would be close to invincible.” He made a pause and a smile crossed his lips when he looked at Illumi.

“This is where your power comes into play.”

“Huh, what kind of ability could possibly allow anyone to do such a thing? I think you are mistaking me for someone else-“

The man laughed and took a device out of his cloak that reminded Illumi of one of Killua’s old Nerf guns. But this thing seemed to be the real deal. It was highly modified from what he could tell. If his intuition did not let him down, this was exactly one of those devices his father had warned him about earlier.

“Don’t play stupid on me, I already know you possess the ability to control people’s minds. I read it in the files of the Organization for public security and stability. After all, every ability user is documented the second they are born. Not only are you the only ability user who can control people’s minds so far, you are also one of the few who were born with two different kinds of powers. You should feel honored.”

“I take you took that thing with you while you peeked into my personal data.” Illumi said and although he was already irritated by the man’s attitude and entire being, he remained calm.

The man pressed a button on the device and it began to boot up. “I did indeed. But I decided to modify it a little. Back then I was inspired by the Chief’s ability to steal other people’s powers – pardon me, I meant Chrollo of course. I take you are familiar with each other?”

Omokage approached Illumi slowly to place the device on his forehead. “You might not even remember any of this once I’m done.”

This was definitely going too far. Before Omokage could activate the device, Illumi kicked him straight in the face. It had been careless of the man to not wrap chains around his ankles as well.   
While Omokage was still recovering from the strike, Illumi wrapped his legs around the man’s throat to strangle him which would give him the opportunity to escape.

While his arms felt completely numb already from the rays the prism ore emitted, he would have had enough strength in his legs to make the man pass out. If only it had not been for those cursed dolls.

More dolls that were built after other members of the Spiders appeared, likely to protect their master. Unlike the Chrollo-doll their eyes were hollow to begin with.

The first doll that attacked perfectly resembled the woman Illumi had seen in the embassy with Chrollo. Although she was two heads smaller, her punches weren’t too bad. In fact, they hurt quite a lot.

Illumi had just recovered from his previous wounds and he would not let this thing break his ribs a second time. An aimed kick was enough for him to break the doll’s skull after which the rest of its body fell to the ground.

In the process he had let go of Omokage who was now gasping for air, but the deadly look he shot at Illumi made it obvious how pissed he was.

Before the man spoke, he coughed and had to take another deep breath. “I had originally planned to take only one of your abilities, but now I’ll take both of them. An ungrateful brat like you does not deserve such a gift. After this I won’t need you anymore and you can die by the hands of my dolls for all I care.” He growled before grabbing Illumi’s throat and placing the device against his head.

_That could have gone different._

 

* * *

 

The last thing he remembered was the blinding light and the feeling of his brain being sucked out of his skull.

When his vision became clear again, he had only a blink of an eye to escape the incoming attack from one of the dolls Omokage had left behind after he had disappeared.

Those cursed chains had drained his energy too much for Illumi to be able to fight back properly, but with his current strength he doubted that he could escape those dolls. Illumi had always imagined his death a little less pitiful than lying on the floor, unable to even get up while being attacked by multiple enemies.

_Well, shit._

Suddenly something incredibly sharp soared through the air and the dolls shattered to pieces. Illumi looked up to the window that now stood open and could not believe how incredibly lucky he was after all.

“My, Illumi, you sure have a talent for getting yourself into trouble lately.” Hisoka sighed dramatically and leaped down into the operating room where he landed next to Illumi.

“Looks like I now owe you more than just one favor…” Illumi said, but was cut off by Hisoka before he could say more.

“You don’t look so good…but you don’t appear to be injured that badly. Why don’t you get up from the floor first, before we continue our conversation?”

Illumi sighed and turned his head away from Hisoka. “I can’t get up.”

“Huh? Why is that?”

“Well, it was like this…”

Hisoka had a hard time to resist the urge to remind Illumi that he had been right after all. But even now, after he had told him the entire story of what had happened, he had still not recovered his strength.

“We have to go after him. I won’t just let him run off with my powers.” Illumi said, still out of breath from walking out of the hospital.

Hisoka bit his lips to not laugh out loud, but it had something comical to it to see Illumi in such a condition. “Take it easy, old man.” He replied jokingly and would have earned a punch in the face if Illumi had not been too exhausted.

“Just how exactly do you plan to chase after him, if you can’t even walk properly?”

Illumi, who had leaned against the walls of the hospital, now stepped forward and explained “You’ll have to carry me, I guess. I felt that guy’s energy advancing farther north. Now don’t make such a face. I can’t let that maniac escape and run wild with my stolen abilities.”

Hisoka shrugged and lifted Illumi up. “Fine then, princess. I get your point. Who knows what that puppet player will do if we don’t go after him. Hold on to me.”

 

* * *

 

The moon hid behind the clouds when they had made it to the place Omokage had gone. It was hard to miss – an old, rundown mansion in the middle of nowhere with a gloomy atmosphere surrounding it.

At first Hisoka had just followed Illumi’s directions, but after a short while he had felt a source of energy moving not too far away from them. If he had just stolen another ability user’s powers, he would have made sure to make it out of his victim’s reach before it had the chance to catch up with him. But perhaps Omokage had just not expected Illumi to be still alive.

Hisoka let Illumi down again and observed the old mansion more closely. “Do you feel up for this?” he asked.

Illumi threw his hair back and turned his head to face Hisoka. “Of course I do. I want my powers back.”

“I actually meant to ask whether you feel fit enough to head in there or not.”

“I don’t have much of a choice. Besides, I feel much better already. Let’s just get this over with so we can head home.” Illumi replied and made a move to enter the mansion.

Hisoka heavily doubted that it would be as easy as that to retrieve Illumi’s powers from that man.

When they entered the dark parlor that led deeper into the mansion, they already had been expected. The shadow on top of the staircase stepped into the moonlight that shone into the room through the broken roof and the man’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“It seems you are full of surprises, Illumi. I did not expect you to be still alive. And you even brought another visitor.” Omokage announced from up the stairs and with an expansive gesture he pointed at another two shadows that stepped out of the dark.

Hisoka had expected another pair of dolls that he could cut down, but these two were actually filled with life, as if they were actually human.

“Illumi, I can’t thank you enough for lending me your gift-“Omokage began, but Illumi disrupted him.

“Well, maybe that’s because you stole it.”

The man furrowed his eyebrows, but shortly after that his grin reappeared on his lips again. “After this fight I certainly won’t have to deal with you anymore. And while I finally get rid of you, I’ll get to try out whether my new creations were a success or not. It was genius of me to modify these two with your ice powers.” Omokage announced and turned away to head back deeper into the mansion. Before he disappeared in the darkness, he glanced down to Illumi one last time.

“However, if a miracle should occur and you survive this too, you’ll have to fight me personally to get back your abilities.”

Illumi’s expression did not change the slightest, but Hisoka could tell he was annoyed.

“Who does this guy think he is, to give part of my powers to those zombies of his-“An ice bolt nearly struck his face before he could finish his sentence.

The doll – no, doll was not the right term for a manipulated human. The taller of the two men leapt down the staircase and dashed forward to freeze Hisoka’s arm. Hisoka however merely had to step away to escape the attack and used his bungee gum which he had attached on the man’s back, to drag him through an old glass cabinet.

“Even if they have your powers, it doesn’t seem as if they’re able to think much beyond attacking certain targets.”

Illumi had no time to reply, since the other puppet had begun to attack him as well. What this guy lacked in strength he made up in speed. Without his powers and feeling still slightly groggy from the impact of the prism ore, Illumi had a much harder time fighting.

While all this seemed to be nothing more than fun for Hisoka, Illumi lost even the last spark of amusement when a sharp icicle cut his cheek. It was not a deep wound, but another cut to his pride. This sucked and he would make Omokage pay in the most painful way imaginable for humiliating him.

Finally he managed to strike the puppet down with a kick that should have broken the pitiful soul’s ribcage. Rather unexpected other remaining opponent shot an ice lance at Illumi from across the room, while the puppet was cut down by a soaring card from Hisoka. But there was no way for Illumi to even move out of the way fast enough not to be struck by it.

It simply came to fast and unexpected. Today death simply seemed to chase after him. Out of reflex he closed his eyes – something he had not done in years after his family’s training – but right now it seemed more comfortable to him than waiting for the lance to cut into his flesh.

_Shit._

Seconds passed and while the ice lance should have struck him, it never came. He had been too tensed to feel the two arms wrapped around him, but he felt the air around him becoming colder.

Now that he was still alive and breathing, he dared to open his eyes again and looked right into the golden shimmering eyes of Hisoka.

“You… you saved me again.”

The smell of blood rose to his nose and he finally noticed the scarlet drops slowly dripping down Hisoka’s lips, before the man sank to his knees. He gasped and blinked, his vision going blurry. “Well, that didn’t go as planned…”

Before Hisoka could fall over and possibly hit his head, Illumi reached out for him quickly and caught him. As he held him in his arms he fully realized the damage the ice lance had done that now stuck in Hisoka’s torso.

“Hisoka… you’re not injured that badly, are you?” Illumi asked slowly, although he already knew the answer. It was more to make sure the man wasn’t in too much pain, but the lance had been large enough to do some serious damage.

Before he could reply, Hisoka coughed up blood, and replied much more softly “I can’t tell. I can’t really feel anything around my chest area. Does it look bad?”

Illumi could feel something creeping up inside him which he had never really felt before, but it was uncomfortable and tight inside his chest. Then he felt anger growing inside of him. “Idiot, why did you not just use your bungee gum?”

Hisoka laughed quietly. “I didn’t really think that far, I guess.”

Illumi sighed “Idiot.” and felt like slapping the man. But Hisoka’s body became colder with each passing second and without even realizing it, Illumi grabbed the man’s hand tightly. “Get it together!”

Hisoka felt his own body growing weaker and began to regret that he had not given it more thought before jumping between Illumi and the ice lance. But as he looked into Illumi’s black eyes, that carried more emotion than usual, he remembered something that brought a faint smile to his lips.

“Remember that one favor you owe me…?”

There had to be some way to get the ice lance out of Hisoka’s chest, but on the other hand it would cause more bleeding. Illumi looked back at Hisoka and replied “Of course I remember. But this isn’t the right moment to bring up a stupid bet, I need to look for-“

Hisoka tried to straighten up, but the slightest movement sent pains through his whole body and he decided to lay still.

“This might be the only chance for you to honor that promise.”

Until then Illumi had not realized the gravity of the situation or simply had refused to do so, but when he stared into Hisoka’s eyes, the tight feeling in his chest returned.

“Hisoka…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you for any of your possessions, although half of your clothes would have looked better on me.” Hisoka replied jokingly as his voice grew weaker. “All I ask for… is this.” He said quietly and removed his had from Illumi’s grip to place it on his cheek.

Illumi seemed to have frozen in his place when Hisoka’s cold, blood-smeared lips touched his own.

While his consciousness faded and his eyes slowly fell shut, the last thing which he felt until the end was the warmth of Illumi’s soft lips.

“Hisoka!”

Illumi knew that the man had already lost consciousness, but he had to process what just had happened first. He needed something to melt the ice with, there had to be a way to do something. He needed to find something warm.

 

* * *

 

It was the last thing Omokage had expected to happen. He had been experimenting with all the other various stolen abilities while he was about to create another puppet from the body of a villager close by. Under no circumstances had he expected the man to be victorious once again, and yet there he stood in the doorway with blood dripping from his face.

“My, who would have thought you’d still be alive after that-“

“Keep your mouth shut.” Illumi disrupted the man once again. He had no time for more of the man’s pointless dialogue. He had grown tired of it.

Unease crept up Omokage’s spine when he felt the fury raging inside Illumi who yet appeared to be eerily calm. Perhaps he had really underestimated him to begin with…

Illumi lifted his head whereat his hair fell out of his face and revealed his aching cut on his cheek next to the dried, crusty blood on his lips. The air inside the room was completely calm when he began to speak. “I don’t need any special powers to defeat you. But I won’t soil my hands with your blood.” He said and slowly lifted the large, rusty crowbar he held. It had lain on the floor of the hallway before the room, as if it had been waiting for him.

Omokage laughed. This man had obviously lost his mind to think he could actually beat his magnificent powers with a simply blunt weapon as a crowbar. But his laughter disappeared when Illumi almost struck him with the crowbar. The look the man gave him alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine. This man was dead serious about killing him. Despite the fact that Illumi was merely a normal human being without his abilities and despite the strength he was still lacking after coming in contact with the prism ore chains, it was the first time in his life that Omokage actually questioned his own abilities.

But he could still turn things around if he could –

With a single, fierce swing Illumi shattered the head of the doll that Omokage had planned to bring to live.   
“Don’t even think about it. This time you’ll have to face me without your dolls doing all the dirty work for you.”

Omokage gritted his teeth, but before Illumi could come any closer, he reached out his hand and sent a shockwave towards Illumi.

“Don’t forget I still have your powers. You destroyed my precious creations, now you’ll have to make up for it by becoming a puppet of mine yourself.”

The wave of energy Illumi was struck by felt familiar and completely harmless. While it would probably have made every other person a mind slave of Omokage, it did no harm to him. In fact, he could feel the energy returning into his own body. While his ice powers that had been copied into the genes of the puppets he had fought earlier had dealt their damage, something was different about the nature of his mental-based ability.

“I doubt you’ll be able to control me with my own powers.”

“No. It can’t end like this… I won’t be defeated by someone who can’t even use his powers. There’s no way-“

“Well yeah, there actually is.” Illumi replied flatly before he swung the crowbar one more time and everything in front of Omokage’s eyes faded into black.

 

* * *

 

It was dark when Hisoka blinked and slowly opened his eyes. He immediately recognized the hard mattress of his own bed and the soft sheets that covered his body.

He did not really recall anything that had happened. The last thing he remembered was an old house, the taste of blood in his own mouth and Illumi…

It was a mystery to him how exactly he had ended up back in his own apartment and in his bed, but he doubted he had come here himself. He would never have gone to bed with his clothes on, which also explained the heat that had caused him to wake up. No, it had not been the warmth of his clothes that had woken him up.

Only now he noticed another warm body resting next to him. The sleeping one’s arm rested gently on Hisoka’s chest, his chest that now was as good as healed. He remembered that he had been injured earlier, the feeling of a cold, gaping hole inside his torso. But now there was nothing left, except for some bloody bandages and a slight sting of pain each time he moved, but it was bearable.

“Illumi?”

There was no response.

Hisoka leaned over to check if the man next to him was actually sleeping or just had tried not to wake him. But his even breaths and the fact that he did not move an inch when Hisoka brushed the black strands of hair out of the sleeping man’s face proved that he had actually fallen asleep.

While Illumi’s expression was always a rather neutral one, he was akin to a child when he was asleep. Right now he seemed much more innocent and almost peaceful – but Hisoka had to look away to resist the urge to poke the man’s cheek. But Illumi was to be sound asleep and Hisoka placed a finger on Illumi’s lips. Their warmth felt familiar… too familiar.

Suddenly his memories returned to him as he was more awake right now. He remembered what had happened, the abilities that had been taken from Illumi, the fight, the kiss before he had passed out-

“Illumi, wake up.”

Illumi groaned into the pillow and blinked slowly before he sat up, Hisoka’s sheets wrapped around his shoulders.

“Huh? What are you doing in my bed?”

“You know, I asked myself the same thing a few minutes ago.”

Illumi, apparently still half asleep, tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Hisoka straightened up and brushed back his hair. “This is my home and this is also my bed you were sleeping in.”

Illumi looked around the room and then gazed out of the window before he turned back to Hisoka. “Oh… I see. Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

“Since when do you fall asleep in other people’s beds? Not that I would mind, but you surprised me.” Hisoka replied and made a pause. “Did you manage to get your abilities back without me?”

Illumi rubbed his eyes and raked his fingers through his hair. “I did… more or less. I took care of Omokage and could retrieve my abilities as well… but I could not figure out the device. As things are now, it seems I also gained the other abilities Omokage stole before he took mine.”

Hisoka raised an eyebrow. “You now possess all the other stolen abilities now as well? Are you feeling alright? Two abilities seem exhausting already, but how many do you have now?”

“I don’t know… but I don’t plan to keep them. I still need to figure out how to use that device, but once I do, it’ll be fine. How are you feeling, while we’re at it?”

“I’m fine. Although I wonder how exactly you managed to patch me up that quick.”

Illumi leaned back slightly and looked up to the ceiling. “After I was done with Omokage I came back to melt the ice and looked for a way to attend your wounds.” He placed his hand before his lips to hide a yawn before he continued. “I had to get you back to Yorkshin first though… the next time we visit my family, you better thank my sister for closing that hole in your chest. She’s the one who did most of the work to be honest.”

Hisoka tried to remember Illumi’s younger sister, but now that he had mentioned her, the faint image of her face reappeared in front of his inner eye. “I suppose I should thank her soon then.”

His gaze slowly wandered into Illumi’s direction again. “Why did you decide to stay after you knew my wounds were healed?”

Illumi turned his head and hummed lightly. “Huh…Well, I suppose I wanted to make sure you really were alright. You know, not that you suffered any brain damages or something like that.” His eyes wandered back up to Hisoka’s face and he began to chew on his lower lip.

“Besides, there are still some things left open between us. You owe me an explanation for what happened back then – and you owe me something for scaring me. I really thought you were about to die.”

Hisoka smirked. “My, were you worried about me?” When Illumi did not react as usual by pushing him away or nudging his shoulder, he realized that Illumi expected him to be serious and come out with the truth. He sighed and looked into the man’s dark eyes.

“I apologize for making you worry. I’ll try to make up for it.” He replied and slowly leaned closer towards Illumi who first leaned back, but then halted and waited for whatever Hisoka was about to do.

“Perhaps... I can make up for it with… this?”

Their lips brushed against each other and Illumi’s lips escaped a soft moan when Hisoka let his tongue slide into the other’s warm mouth.

“Hisoka…”

Illumi sighed into the kiss while Hisoka placed his hands on Illumi’s hips.

“Hisoka.”

He was about to push Illumi onto the mattress, when Illumi broke the kiss and turned his head way.

“Hisoka, stop.”

“What’s the matter?”

Hisoka watched Illumi sighed and the all too familiar cold black eyes stared into his own once again, waiting for answers.

“How is all this supposed to continue? I mean… what do you expect from this? You don’t actually want to be with me that way, do you?”

It was foolish to expect Hisoka to have any feelings, which were even close to love, for Illumi, even if one took into consideration what had happened today. Who knows what Illumi would have done if he had been close to dying. It could not have been more than an impulse with nothing more to it.

Hisoka reached out for Illumi’s hand and observed the other’s slender fingers when he spoke. “Remember the last time I got this close to you? When I hugged you and you almost punched me afterwards?”

“I do, although I don’t remember anything about me wanting to punch you.”

A slight smile crossed Hisoka’s lips when he saw Illumi’s small pout from the corner of his eye. “I had noticed it before, but back then your reaction was enough of an assurance to me. Your heart beat faster and for a moment you almost blushed. You don’t have to be ashamed to admit your love for me.” He said and smirked, but quickly grabbed Illumi’s wrist before the man got the chance to punch him.

“Illumi, don’t! It was just a joke, I’m sorry.”

“Can’t you be serious for even a second?”

“I said I was sorry, now if you would please let me finish?” Hisoka replied and let go of Illumi’s wrist to gently take his hand. “I wanted to kiss you for a long time, but I never dared since you did not seem to be too fond of any kind of body contact.”

Illumi sighed. “The only reason I didn’t want any of this was that I did not expect you to be serious about it. I mean, technically you’re always flirting with everyone.”

Hisoka laughed slightly and pulled Illumi closer to him, so close their lips were barely touching. “But when it was with you, I meant it…”

“You better did.” Illumi muttered and wrapped his arms around Hisoka’s neck.

“I’m glad that’s settled…”

Hisoka leaned in for a kiss once more as he pressed Illumi’s lower body against his own. He did not even feel the sting in his still bandaged chest anymore when they sunk onto the mattress.


	7. New Beginnings

Gon squinted with his eyes with suspicion at the view in front of him and leaned over to Killua. “Is it just my imagination, or is Hisoka harassing your brother right there?” he asked quietly.

Killua covered his eyes to not let the image of Hisoka wrapping his arm around Illumi’s waist to reach lower for his-

“No, it definitely isn’t your imagination.” Killua replied and dug his head into one of the sofa pillows in the entrance hall of the first league headquarter.

Gon shrugged and turned his head back to Killua who still covered his eyes with the pillow. Perhaps they had missed something that had occurred between Hisoka and Killua’s brother. But whatever had happened, it had definitely caused a change in Illumi’s attitude to being felt up by the taller man.

Killua dared to lower the pillow and stuck out his tongue. “Ew. They better get a room before I puke.”

Gon tilted his head and smiled slightly. “But your brother looks happy – and so does Hisoka. But he always has that weird smirk on his face… I think the impact on Illumi has more significance.”

“You might be right…” Killua sighed and placed the pillow back on the sofa. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad if his brother got whatever it was he needed from Hisoka.

While he and Gon waited for their managers to meet with them, Killua could not help but overhear the conversation between Illumi and Hisoka. Only then he realized why they were even here in their normal attire instead of their hero suits.

“Are you sure you took everything out of your locker with you?” Illumi asked whereat Hisoka nodded almost too delighted for Killua to stomach. It was more than obvious that the man was bewitched by his brother’s every move, but that did not mean that Killua was okay with it. It simply felt weird.  

“Of course I have. But perhaps I should make one last appearance as Crimson Curse and make over all my hero stuff to my fans… so they can treasure the memories of me forever~”

Illumi rolled his eyes, too subtle for the untrained eye to see, but Killua knew his brother too well to miss it. “Don’t get ahead of yourself… As I said, this is no resignation forever. Once I feel like it, I might even return to become Frostbite again. But until then, this suit will get a place somewhere in the attic.” He said and handed a carton to Hisoka.

“I can’t wait until our comeback then… Why do I have to carry your things, though?”

Illumi threw his hair back and glanced back at Hisoka over his shoulder. “Just because we made up last night, doesn’t mean I completely forgave you.”

Hisoka raised his eyebrows, then pouted slightly. “I wonder why you can’t forgive me yet. As far as I know, I made no mistake.”

While Illumi replied to Hisoka, suddenly Killua realized what exactly was happening. He still had no idea what had occurred between his brother and Hisoka, but if his brother was talking about resigning something and took his hero suit with him, then…

“Big bro!”

“Killua?” Illumi swung around. He must have been too occupied with Hisoka to even notice Killua was waiting in the entrance hall as well. At least he was clearly surprised to see him.

Killua rose from his seat while Illumi walked over to the seating corner, leaving Hisoka behind with the carton.

“Killua, why did you not say something earlier? I would have come over to say hi.” Illumi said when he patted Killua’s head.

Killua frowned. He could not stand it when his brother still did that, and while he knew how much this gesture meant to Illumi, it was embarrassing for him.

Killua shoved away Illumi’s hand and replied “Well, you seemed so busy, I did not feel like disrupting you… but what did I hear about leaving earlier? Big bro, are you quitting your job?”

“Well, yes I am… at least for now.” Illumi replied calmly.

Gon’s eyes widened and he jumped up from his seat. “But you can’t just quit! You’re among the top 5 of the most famous heroes in Yorkshin!”

“I know that myself, but it just doesn’t fulfill me anymore. Besides, after what happened within the last weeks, I felt like taking a break and just be me for a while instead of acting all the time. It really gets tiring gradually.”

“You know how mom will react once she finds out about this.” Killua said quietly.

“Let her. I’m tired of fulfilling mom’s expectations, as well as getting myself into uncomfortable situations. Besides, it’s your time to shine now. I’ll leave the first league to you.”

“If you say so…” Killua glanced over to Hisoka. “But why does Hisoka resign from his position as hero as well?”

“We signed the last contract to work as partners, but without me it is no longer valid. For now, I think it won’t hurt him to take a break either.”

“I see…” Killua replied slowly. “By the way, did anything happen between the two of you?”

Illumi hummed lightly. “Huh, I guess you could say that… some things happened during our last mission and we had to clarify some things last night.”

“That we did.” Hisoka added, who had been observing the conversation from the distance, and smirked at Illumi. “We should get back to that soon.”

“Once you help me carry my things, we will. See you around, Killu. Good luck with today’s mission – don’t get yourself hurt, understood?”

“I got it.” Killua replied and watched his brother leave with Hisoka.

While it was less dramatic than it should have been, the image of two of Yorkshin’s greatest heroes leaving wordlessly in such an unspectacular way sure had something dramatic to it.

Gon watched them leave as silent as Killua did, but once they were out of sight, he tilted his head in confusion. “I still don’t understand how clarifying some things can change an entire relationship.”

Killua sighed and patted Gon’s shoulder. “Trust me, they did more than just talk.”

While Gon raised an eyebrow, not fully grasping what Killua meant by his words, they were approached by someone all too familiar.

“Gon, Killua!”

Killua turned around and immediately recognized the pair of grey eyes and blond strands of hair that framed them.

“Kurapika!”

For a moment Killua had expected Gon to jump into the fair-haired one’s arms, but he held himself back.

Kurapika seemed much calmer today than the last time their paths had crossed. He gave both of them a warm smile before he began to speak.

“I saw your debut on TV, but until now I did not get the chance to congratulate you. You really did a good job back then.”

Gon rubbed his neck and waved it off. “It was nothing, Killua did most of the work anyway-“   
Before he could finish, he was cut off by a loud, much deeper voice that belonged to the man who had just entered the lobby.

“Guess who finally made it to the first league as well!” he announced and pushed up his glasses with confident grin.

“Leorio! You really made it here as well!” Gon smiled brightly.

Killua raised an eyebrow. “Huh, so you’re still alive, old man?  I guess miracles do happen after all.”

Kurapika covered his lips to hide his grin, while Leorio furrowed. “What is that supposed to mean, kid?”

“Oh, it doesn’t mean anything.” Killua replied and innocently glanced up to the ceiling.

Before Leorio got the chance to get mad, Kurapika changed the topic. “What a fortunate coincidence that all of us meet again as first league heroes. I would not have expected it to happen quite so soon.”

Leorio sighed. “Not you too… I get it, alright? You’ve all surpassed me a long time ago.”

“I never said that.” Kurapika added, but Leorio waved it off.

“It’s fine, I understand…” He glanced over to Kurapika again. “Did you have any other encounters with the Spiders lately? You seem much calmer than last time.”

Kurapika smiled slightly. “I did not, which is weird… they have not been active lately. But it gave me time to find part of my inner peace again.”

“Oh, that’s great to hear.” Gon said and grinned at Kurapika.

“Gon, did you have any luck with finding more information about your father’s whereabouts?” the blonde asked.

Gon shook his head. “Not exactly… but I’m not giving up! One day I will have come far enough to finally meet him! Until then I’ll train as much as I can.” He declared.

“With that attitude, I haven’t got a single doubt about it.” Leorio said with a smile and pushed up his glasses.

Killua watched as Gon continued to rave about what had happened so far and his meeting with Kite, and he could not help himself but had to smile. Gon’s enthusiasm had fascinated him since they had first met. The thought of being able to stay by his side filled him with bliss. Although he was not sure about where his own way would lead him, he felt that with Gon by his side, he would figure it out as well one day.

Until then, he would follow the path his family had always taken and serve as a hero with Gon. Together, they would rise to the most famous heroes the city of Yorkshin would ever see…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> There were so many things i still wanted to include in this story, but then I would never have been able to finish this fic in time.  
> If there are things you are wondering about, things that seem to be left open - that's just how it's supposed to be. I might work on a sequel or at least on another fic set in this AU somewhere in the future, but rn I'm just glad I was able to write this story.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!<3  
> Oh and please check out all the other amazing works for the HxH Big Bang!


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